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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A series of inquiries last month documented the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were misremembering.

Commentators have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also cite his reluctance to discipline a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he must address the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being written in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”