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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month detailed the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either victims of or witnesses to highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The incidents they recounted span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were misremembering.

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

They also point to his reluctance to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Arguing that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he must confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team 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 interview, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”