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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A series of inquiries last month detailed the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, others have stepped forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed hurtful conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also cite his inability to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour 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 stated.

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led this behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”