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The United Kingdom's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has urged the Reform UK leader to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

Hermer stated that Farage had "clearly deeply hurt" many people, based on their accounts of his alleged conduct. He noted that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“During his answers to valid inquiries, not once has Farage genuinely condemned antisemitism,” Hermer stated to a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Surface

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

One, Peter Ettedgui, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘send them to the gas chambers’, occasionally including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the Nazi gas chambers”.

Another pupil from an ethnic minority alleged that when he was about nine, he was similarly targeted by a older Farage.

“He walked up to a pupil flanked by two similarly tall mates and targeted anyone looking ‘other’,” the individual said. “That involved me on three separate times; asking me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘That's how you get back,’ to wherever you said you were from.”

Following the initial report, more people have emerged; around two dozen people have now claimed they were either subject to or witnesses to hurtful conduct by Farage.

The behaviour they described cover the period when Farage was aged between 13 and 18.

Denials and Shifting Positions

The political figure has rejected that anything he did was "directly" racist or antisemitic, and has asserted the accusers were misremembering.

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

They also cite his reluctance to sanction a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in adverts. She later apologised for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] unconvincing, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He went on to say: “Suggesting that a group of people have all recalled incorrectly the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Demand for Accountability

“If he wants to be seen as a legitimate candidate for the top job, he must acknowledge the concerns of the Jewish community, and apologise to the numerous individuals he has obviously deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in public life.”

In a different discussion, Rachel Reeves said Farage should “say something” if he wanted to appear as a real leader.

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

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the report, Farage’s legal team stated that “the implication that Mr Farage ever engaged in, condoned, or led this behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his position in an interview, saying: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could interpret as being playground talk, you could interpret in a contemporary context today in some way? Perhaps.”

He said that he had “not once intentionally attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently put out 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.”