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

Hermer stated that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He noted that the politician's "evolving" denials had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month documented the testimony of more than a dozen former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, Peter Ettedgui, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He approached a pupil accompanied by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That happened to me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have stepped forward; about 20 people have now stated they were either victims of or saw hurtful conduct by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his denials.

They also point to his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later expressed regret for the comments.

“Nigel Farage’s constantly changing story about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer stated.

He added: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he wants to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he urgently needs acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in society.”

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

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would recognise as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence prior to the publication of the investigation, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, saying: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He commented that he had “never directly sought to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been published when I was 13, decades in the past.”