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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or observed hurtful conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were misremembering.

Critics have highlighted 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, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he urgently needs address the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in society.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”