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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A published report last month detailed the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, 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 imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; about 20 people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were misremembering.

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

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the comments.

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

He added: “Arguing that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

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

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”