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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

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

Further Testimonies Surface

A published report last month documented the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were not telling the truth.

Commentators have noted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have all misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he urgently needs confront the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an interview, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Yes.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”