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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A series of inquiries last month detailed the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either subject to or witnesses to highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were misremembering.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.

They also reference his failure to discipline a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Arguing that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he has to confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real 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 certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”