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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He commented that the leader's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

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

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month documented the statements of several former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were not telling the truth.

Observers have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also reference his failure to sanction a fellow Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must address the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, stating: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards put out a further comment: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”