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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month outlined the statements of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have emerged; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw hurtful conduct by Farage.

The incidents they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also cite his inability 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 said sorry for the comments.

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

He added: “Suggesting that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

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

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, remarking: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally sought 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, decades in the past.”