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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He added that the politician's "constantly changing" denials had been unconvincing.

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

New Allegations Surface

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another student of colour alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That included me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

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

Observers have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also cite his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

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

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

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for prime minister, he must confront the anxieties of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Bigotry in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being drafted in a particular way to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage later issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, so long ago.”