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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the statements of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He approached a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

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

They also cite his reluctance to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

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

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a other comments, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an interview, stating: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”