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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 allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

“In his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were not telling the truth.

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

They also cite his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

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

He went on to say: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he must acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “never directly attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, so long ago.”