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The United Kingdom's attorney general, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has called on Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his past behaviour. He added that the politician's "shifting" denials had been difficult to believe.

“In his replies to legitimate questions, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

New Allegations Come to Light

A series of inquiries last month detailed the testimony of over a dozen former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a teenage Farage "would approach me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another student of colour stated that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil with two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you answered you were from.”

Following the initial report, others have stepped forward; approximately twenty people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to highly inappropriate actions by Farage.

The incidents they described relate to the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the former classmates were misremembering.

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

They also point to his inability to discipline a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she complained about the number of people of colour she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the statements.

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

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

Question of Character

“If he wishes to be seen as a serious contender for prime minister, he has to confront the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the those he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we must not permit it to ever become accepted in society.”

In a different discussion, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to appear as a true statesman.

“It is very telling how little he has to say, and the precisely drafted words that both you and I would identify as being written in a certain style to communicate, but also not to say something,” she said.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team asserted that “the suggestion that Mr Farage ever took part in, condoned, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is completely refuted”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an discussion, stating: “Have I said things as a youth that you could interpret as being banter, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some sort of way? Possibly.”

He added that he had “never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody”. Farage subsequently put out a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported as a 13-year-old, decades in the past.”