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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded the Reform UK leader to apologise to former schoolmates who claim he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their testimonies of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "shifting" statements had been difficult to believe.

“During his defensive responses to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the accounts of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was roughly nine years old, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two equally tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the former student said. “That included me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or observed hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

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

Critics have highlighted that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his responses.

They also reference his inability to sanction a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He added: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he has to address the concerns of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a real leader.

“It speaks volumes how little he has to say, and the very careful language that both you and I would understand as being written in a specific manner to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In lawyers' communications before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later appeared to change his stance in an discussion, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently issued a fresh denial: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been published aged 13, decades in the past.”