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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A published report last month documented the statements of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either subject to or saw hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were being untruthful.

Critics have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also point to his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

He continued: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in politics.”

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

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being written in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”