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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now stated they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were being untruthful.

Critics have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also point to his failure to discipline a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s representatives stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He said that he had “never directly really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”