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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The behaviour they described relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were not telling the truth.

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

They also cite his reluctance to discipline a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

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

He went on to say: “Claiming that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties 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 values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an appearance, saying: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”