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

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“During his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding 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 singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to hurtful conduct by Farage.

The incidents they described relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were not telling the truth.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also point to his inability to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.

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

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

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must address the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

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