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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "constantly changing" statements had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate 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 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

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

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

They also point to his failure to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for high office, he urgently needs address the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his position in an interview, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”