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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been unconvincing.

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

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts 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 say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

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

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

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

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”