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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his past behaviour. He added that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“In his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of several ex-pupils of Farage from a south London school.

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

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

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

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were misremembering.

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 cite his inability 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 statements.

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

He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the those he has clearly 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 normalised in society.”

In a other comments, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a particular way to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a further comment: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”