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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "evolving" denials had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month documented the statements of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have come forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were not telling the truth.

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

They also point to his inability to sanction a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Yes.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently released a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”