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The United Kingdom's attorney general, Richard Hermer, has demanded Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who assert he racially abused them during their years in education.

Hermer said that Farage had "obviously deeply hurt" many people, judging by their accounts of his past behaviour. He commented that the leader's "shifting" statements had been unconvincing.

“In his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a news outlet.

New Allegations Surface

A series of inquiries last month documented the accounts of several former classmates of Farage from a south London school.

One, a former pupil, said that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

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

“He came over to a pupil flanked by two tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘different’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and motioning, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to any place you said you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now stated they were either targets of or saw hurtful conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they outlined relate to the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Changing Stories

The political figure has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has claimed the accusers were being untruthful.

Critics have pointed out that Farage has failed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism outright in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to reprimand a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.

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

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

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he must acknowledge the anxieties of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the many people he has obviously 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 legitimised in public life.”

In a separate interview, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “speak out” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It is very telling 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 avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In lawyers' communications prior to the publication of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever engaged in, approved of, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an interview, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could interpret as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “never directly attempted to go and hurt anybody”. Farage afterwards issued a further comment: “I can tell you unequivocally that I did not say the things that have been reported when I was 13, nearly 50 years ago.”