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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "evolving" statements had been less than credible.

“In his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A published report last month documented the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ 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 older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, others have emerged; about 20 people have now stated they were either subject to or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to discipline a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, decades in the past.”