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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“During his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Fresh Claims Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were not telling the truth.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Arguing that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance 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 some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”