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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

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

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Commentators have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.

They also cite his inability to sanction a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

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

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he has to confront the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

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

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an interview, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards 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.”