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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the individuals were not telling the truth.

Observers have highlighted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also reference his inability to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a certain style to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”