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

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He commented that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

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

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of more than a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either targets of or witnesses to deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the former classmates were being untruthful.

Observers have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also cite his failure to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

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

Demand for Accountability

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

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

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

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”