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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "constantly changing" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

After the story broke, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

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

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were not telling the truth.

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

They also point to his failure to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the statements.

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

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he must address the anxieties of the Jewish people, 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 must not permit it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being written in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an interview, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in some way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, decades in the past.”