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The United Kingdom's top law officer, Richard Hermer, has urged Nigel Farage to issue an apology to former schoolmates who claim he targeted with racist abuse them during their time at school.

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

“During his replies to valid inquiries, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a news outlet.

Fresh Claims Surface

A series of inquiries last month outlined the testimony of several former classmates of Farage from a private college.

One, a former pupil, said that a 13-year-old Farage "would sidle 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 minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a 17-year-old Farage.

“He approached a pupil with two equally tall mates and addressed anyone looking ‘different’,” the former student said. “That included me on three occasions; asking me where I was from, and pointing away, saying: ‘That’s the way back,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

After the story broke, additional individuals have come forward; approximately twenty people have now stated they were either targets of or observed deeply offensive actions by Farage.

The incidents they described cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

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 not managed to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his responses.

They also reference his reluctance to discipline a party member, a MP, after she made remarks about the number of people of colour she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“His shifting account about his behaviour to his peers [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Suggesting that a group of people have somehow forgotten 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 prime minister, he urgently needs confront the concerns of the Jewish people, and say sorry to the numerous individuals he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer concluded.

“Bigotry in all its forms is abhorrent to the standards of this country and we should not let it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a separate interview, the Chancellor said Farage should “speak out” 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 understand as being written in a specific manner to say something, but also dodge the issue,” she noted.

Legal Letters and Later Statements

In formal correspondence before the release of the report, Farage’s lawyers stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever was involved in, approved of, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later appeared to change his position in an discussion, stating: “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? Possibly.”

He added 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 printed aged 13, nearly 50 years ago.”