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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they described span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were being untruthful.

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

They also cite his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Claiming that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Yes.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”