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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "evolving" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the testimony of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil 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 with two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were misremembering.

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

They also reference his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

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

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, decades in the past.”