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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He noted that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

“Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the testimony of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and utter: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil flanked by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were not telling the truth.

Critics have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also reference his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He continued: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being written in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”