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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He added that the leader's "evolving" statements had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Surface

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were misremembering.

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

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He went on to say: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he must confront the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine 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 crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an interview, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”