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The UK's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their years in education.

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

“In his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A series of inquiries last month outlined the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘other’,” the former student said. “That involved me on three occasions; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Since then, more people have come forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or observed hurtful actions by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were misremembering.

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

They also point to his inability to sanction a colleague in his party, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the remarks.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his schoolmates [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to address the fears of the Jewish people, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer said.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the principles 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 very little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being drafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things as a youth that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He commented that he had “never directly 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 printed as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”