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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "shifting" statements had been less than credible.

“In his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month documented the accounts of several ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil alleged that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

Since then, others have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either targets of or observed highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

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

Denials and Shifting Positions

The Reform leader has disputed that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were not telling the truth.

Observers have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his statements.

They also point to his failure to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the comments.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He went on to say: “Claiming that a group of people have all forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become normalised in public life.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a genuine leader.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would identify as being crafted in a particular way to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”