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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Emerge

A published report last month outlined the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to hurtful conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described cover the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Evolving Explanations

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

Critics have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also cite his inability to sanction a party member, a MP, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He added: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to confront the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published as a 13-year-old, nearly 50 years ago.”