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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A recent investigation last month outlined the testimony of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

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

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

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were misremembering.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he must address the fears of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

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

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could view as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”