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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He commented that the politician's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A published report last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either victims of or saw highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were being untruthful.

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

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

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

He continued: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very 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 not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his stance in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “never directly sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards released a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”