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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He added that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

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

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the testimony of over a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or saw highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they described cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Critics have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also reference his failure to discipline a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the comments.

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he has to acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in society.”

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

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his position in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, 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 hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”