Official: Huge increase in post Brexit race hate crime

Home Office figures on race and religious hate crime directly after the Brexit vote show an alarming rise right across the country.

In the month after the Brexit vote  nearly 5,500 incidents were reported to the police, these included assaults, verbal abuse, and xenophobic graffiti.

Many commentators argued that that July’s figures were an emotive one off, but official figures demonstrate that even during the holiday month - August- when many are away on holiday and are  a little more relaxed, a further 4,500 further incidents were reported to the police.

The findings provide the most authorative confirmation so far of a rise in hate crime following the Brexit vote

What is extraordinary about this particularly rise of hate crime,  after what was an extremely toxic immigration debate throughout the referendum, is that anyone perceived a foreigner can be a race hate victim.

From Polish workers and their children to British born Muslims, Hindus and Caribbean’s. And for the first time in many years Western Europeans, such as German's French and Italians have been caught up in the xenophobic rise.

Just last week London’s Evening Standard highlighted two stories from Londoners: British born Muslim Esmat Jerad - 27- told the newspaper she was subjected to the most aggressive form of abuse, when a white man in his fifties approached her randomly and told her,  "Fu** off out of my country". Ms Jerad from Tooting said, "He stared in my eyes...He really meant it.”

In another incident Kershav Karpor, born in the UK to Indian parents was kicked to ground by a group of young men. ‘One guy went behind me and kicked one leg into another which felled me to the ground. They all looked down on, whilst one of the men said; “Fu** back to your own country". Mr Karpor said; “Brexit has given people an excuse to say what they want”.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing  incidents was in Harlow, when Polish worker Arkadiusz Józwik, was attacked and killed when a group of teenagers heard Jozwik and his friend speaking polish.

Some of you may remember that Operation Black Vote came under extreme vitriol,  mainly from Right wing media outlets, when we warned about the rise of racism during the Referendum debates in May, with our, ‘A Vote is Vote’ Saatchi and Saatchi poster campaign. In it we sought to highlight the fact that the present immigration debate was legitimising racial hatred. We knew this, because we had heard it on the ground having travelled around the country holding  EU Referendum debates. Even those BME individuals who were for Brexit, were put off and but did not want to be associated with the race hate path the Brexit debate was taking.

Right now there is an urgent debate to be had in the UK to stop the normalisation of racial hatred. The ‘let’s blame the foreigners’ culture not only grossly ignores that certain business sectors would collapse without migrant workers including - the care home profession and the NHS, but also farming, hospitality and the building trade.

Worse still the levels of hatred we have right now is poisoning the very soul of our societies.

I hope these Home Office figures are a wakeup call to the Government, local authorities and wider society.

Simon Woolley