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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to former schoolmates who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "evolving" explanations had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Surface

A published report last month detailed the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach 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 gas showers”.

Another student of colour claimed that when he was about nine, 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 former student said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or witnesses to highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined span the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were misremembering.

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

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

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

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he has to acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is anathema to the standards 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 be considered a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In legal letters prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”