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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, judging by their testimonies of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either victims of or witnesses to deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they described span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Commentators have noted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

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

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

He went on to say: “Arguing that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for prime minister, he must address the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”