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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "constantly changing" denials had been less than credible.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A series of inquiries last month detailed the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, others have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or saw deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they described relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

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

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

They also point to his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the statements.

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

He continued: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he must acknowledge the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people 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 should not let it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s legal team stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his stance in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “never directly attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, decades in the past.”