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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" statements had been less than credible.

“Throughout his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Come to Light

A recent investigation last month detailed the statements of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you replied you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The behaviour they recounted span the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also point to his failure to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Suggesting that 20 people have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

“It is very telling how very little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence before the publication of the report, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

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 printed when I was 13, decades in the past.”