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

Hermer said that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their descriptions of his actions as a youth. He added that the politician's "constantly changing" explanations had been unconvincing.

“During his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer told a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month outlined the testimony of more than a dozen ex-pupils of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, Peter Ettedgui, recalled that a teenage Farage "would approach me and say: ‘The Nazi leader was correct’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was subjected to similar treatment by a older 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; inquiring where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to any place you replied you were from.”

After the story broke, more people have stepped forward; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either victims of or witnesses to highly inappropriate past behaviour 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 "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the individuals were misremembering.

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

They also cite his failure to discipline a party member, Sarah Pochin, after she expressed views about the number of black and brown people she saw in adverts. She later said sorry for the comments.

“His evolving narrative about his behaviour to his peers [is] hard to believe, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He went on to say: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have somehow recalled incorrectly the same things about his nasty behaviour simply is not believable."

Question of Character

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he urgently needs address the anxieties of the Jewish people, and apologise to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

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

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to be considered 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 crafted in a specific manner to communicate, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s legal team claimed that “the implication that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led such conduct is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his stance in an discussion, remarking: “Did I say things decades ago that you could see as being playground talk, you could interpret in a today's standards today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage later put out a new statement: “I can tell you categorically that I did not say the things that have been reported aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”