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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ 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 roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either subject to or saw highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also cite his failure to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

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

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the concerns 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 standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally really tried 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 printed as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”