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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were misremembering.

Observers have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also cite his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“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: “Suggesting that a group of people have all forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs confront the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He commented that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”