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The UK's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, according to their testimonies of his actions as a youth. He commented that the politician's "shifting" denials had been less than credible.

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

Fresh Claims Emerge

A published report last month detailed the accounts of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

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

“He approached a pupil flanked by two tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted span the period when Farage was aged 13 to 18.

Changing Stories

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the accusers were misremembering.

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

They also reference his inability to reprimand a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the remarks.

“His constantly changing story about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer commented.

He added: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply isn’t credible."

Call for Leadership

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Prejudice in all its forms is completely opposed to the standards of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become legitimised in society.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered a genuine leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would recognise as being drafted in a particular way to say something, but also avoid saying certain things,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters before the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led such conduct is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his explanation in an interview, saying: “Did I say things 50 years ago that you could view as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not ever purposely sought to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently released a new statement: “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.”