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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

The incidents they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were misremembering.

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

They also reference his failure to discipline a party member, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

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

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he must address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage later released a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”