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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“During his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month outlined the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

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

Observers have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he urgently needs confront the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a real leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”