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The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on 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 "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Fresh Claims Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the individual said. “That happened to me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either subject to or witnesses to highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also point to his reluctance to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

“Nigel Farage’s evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Claiming that 20 people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he urgently needs address the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

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

In a different discussion, the Chancellor said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It says a lot how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being written in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an discussion, remarking: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed when I was 13, so long ago.”