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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the leader's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

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

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The incidents they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were not telling the truth.

Observers have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also point to his inability to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He added: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in society.”

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

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”