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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He added that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Fresh Claims Emerge

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

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or observed highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were not telling the truth.

Critics have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also reference his reluctance to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later put out 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.”