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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "shifting" denials had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also point to his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise 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 cannot allow it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”