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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month documented the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers 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 cite his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It says a lot how 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 say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”