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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "shifting" denials had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

New Allegations Surface

A published report last month outlined the testimony of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or saw deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they described span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were not telling the truth.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also cite his reluctance 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 remarks.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, saying: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He said that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”