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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“During his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Fresh Claims Surface

A published report last month detailed the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed 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 targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or saw deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The incidents they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were not telling the truth.

Critics have pointed out that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “never directly really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage later put out a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, decades in the past.”