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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A published report last month documented the statements of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Critics have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs confront the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, so long ago.”