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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "shifting" denials had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month detailed the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘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 student of colour stated that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or saw hurtful actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the individuals were being untruthful.

Critics have noted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also cite his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the statements.

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

He added: “Arguing that 20 people have all misremembered 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 urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in politics.”

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

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”