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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his past behaviour. He noted that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been less than credible.

“Throughout his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

New Allegations Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month outlined the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

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

Another minority ethnic pupil stated that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have come forward; about 20 people have now alleged they were either subject to or saw highly inappropriate conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they described relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were not telling the truth.

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

They also reference his failure to discipline a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views 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] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He continued: “Claiming that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Racism in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in politics.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Did I say 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 attempted to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards released a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”