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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "shifting" denials had been less than credible.

“In his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Surface

A series of inquiries last month outlined the testimony of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate 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 older Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they described cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were misremembering.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also cite his failure to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered 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 certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his stance in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, so long ago.”