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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who allege he racially abused them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "evolving" statements had been difficult to believe.

“During his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage truly condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Surface

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, described that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil accompanied by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘unusual’,” the person said. “That involved me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

Since then, additional individuals have emerged; around two dozen people have now stated they were either subject to or saw hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The alleged events they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Evolving Explanations

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

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

They also reference his reluctance to discipline a party member, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later expressed regret for the remarks.

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

He went on to say: “Claiming that a group of people have somehow forgotten the same things about his hurtful behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a credible figure for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the many people he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we should not let it to ever become normalised in public life.”

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

“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 particular way to communicate, but also not to say something,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In formal correspondence prior to the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers claimed that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever engaged in, supported, or led this behaviour is categorically denied”.

Farage later altered his position in an appearance, stating: “Have I said things decades ago that you could view as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He commented that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage later issued a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”