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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been difficult to believe.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ 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 similarly targeted by a older Farage.

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

Following the initial report, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The incidents they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also point to his reluctance to reprimand a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he urgently needs address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

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

Farage later altered his explanation in an interview, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”