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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

“In his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

New Allegations Emerge

A published report last month detailed the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, at times making a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have come forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either subject to or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were being untruthful.

Observers have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his denials.

They also point to his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the comments.

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that 20 people have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves 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 precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “never directly really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards released a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”