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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have come forward; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed hurtful conduct by Farage.

The incidents they recounted span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also point to his inability to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

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

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being written in a particular way to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, so long ago.”