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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He added that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either subject to or observed hurtful conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were misremembering.

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

They also reference his failure to sanction a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things as a youth that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”