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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month documented the accounts of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either subject to or saw hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they described cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

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

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

They also reference his inability to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

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

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he must acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Yes.”

He said that he had “never directly sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, decades in the past.”