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The UK's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who assert he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer remarked that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their descriptions of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "evolving" explanations had been unconvincing.

“Throughout his defensive responses to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A published report last month detailed the statements of over a dozen one-time schoolmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a 13-year-old Farage "came up to me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another student of colour alleged that when he was roughly nine years old, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older Farage.

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

Following the initial report, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now alleged they were either targets of or witnesses to hurtful conduct by Farage.

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

Changing Stories

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

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

They also cite his failure to reprimand a colleague in his party, a MP, after she expressed views about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later apologised for the comments.

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

He added: “Arguing that two dozen individuals have all forgotten the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wishes to be seen as a legitimate candidate for high office, he urgently needs acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is anathema to the principles of this country and we cannot allow it to ever become accepted in public life.”

In a other comments, a senior politician said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications before the publication of the investigation, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, condoned, or led such conduct is categorically denied”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an interview, saying: “Have I said things as a youth that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a today's standards today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not ever purposely really tried to go and harm anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a new statement: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, decades in the past.”