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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or witnesses to hurtful actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were misremembering.

Critics have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his statements.

They also point to his inability to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he has to acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an interview, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”