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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "shifting" denials had been unconvincing.

“In his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month documented the testimony of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour 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 targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

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

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he must address the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage later released a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”