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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month detailed the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have stepped forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were not telling the truth.

Commentators have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also point to his inability to discipline a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he must address the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”