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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his past behaviour. He added that the politician's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

New Allegations Surface

A published report last month detailed the statements of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either subject to or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also point to his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he must confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would understand as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Possibly.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and upset anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”