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

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his alleged conduct. He commented that the politician's "constantly changing" statements had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

New Allegations Emerge

A recent investigation last month detailed the testimony of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

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

Another pupil from an ethnic minority stated that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, others have come forward; around two dozen people have now alleged they were either subject to or witnesses to deeply offensive conduct by Farage.

The alleged events they recounted relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has rejected that anything he did was "explicitly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were being untruthful.

Commentators have pointed out that Farage has not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism more broadly in his statements.

They also point to his reluctance to discipline a colleague in his party, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.

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

He went on to say: “Claiming that 20 people have somehow misremembered the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for the top job, he has to acknowledge the fears of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Racism in all its forms is completely opposed to the values of this country and we should not let it to ever become accepted in society.”

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

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would recognise as being written in a particular way to say something, but also not to say something,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s representatives asserted that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an appearance, remarking: “Have I said things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some sort of way? Perhaps.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally sought to go and hurt anybody”. Farage later released a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been printed as a 13-year-old, so long ago.”