Diane Abbott MP joins anti-racist campaigners

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP has joined anti-racist campaigners to prepare for a protest in response to threats of increased racism after the triggering of Article 50.

Following the Brexit vote, there has been a scramble for government officials to lay out a course of action for the unprecedented separation from the supranational body.

The first step in this process would be triggering Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon – which would begin Britain's negotiations to exit the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May revealed early in her tenure a plan to trigger Article 50 no later than March 2017, with a full withdrawal from the EU planned for April 2019.

As this deadline grows near, police forces have found themselves overwhelmed with a rise in hate crimes since the summer 2016 vote.

“The number of hate crimes recorded by regional police forces rose by up to 100 per cent in the months following the Brexit vote, new figures show. Dorset saw the greatest increase, with the 104 offences logged between July and September 2016 equating to double the total from April to June. Across England and Wales the rise was 27 per cent,” according to an article written by Jon Sharman and Ian Jones published in the Independent.

In June 2016, immediately before the referendum, Nigel Farage unveiled an anti-migrant poster. The poster displayed a queue of mostly non-white migrants and refugees with the slogan “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all”. There were complaints that this type of image would ignite racial hatred and, subsequently, breach UK race laws.

Many believe that the anti-immigrant and anti-diversity sentiment encouraged by UKIP supporters ultimately led to the outcome of the referendum and may also be the source of the rise in violent crimes against immigrant communities and people of colour.

#MarchAgainstRacism is a response to these crimes and a call to celebrate diversity within the UK.

The marches are set to take place this Saturday, 18 March 2017, at the following locations:

London:
12 noon, BBC's Broadcasting House, Portland Place, W1A 1AA

Glasgow:
11am, Holland Street

Cardiff:
11am, Grange Gardens, CF11
Loren Williams

OBV Staff Reporter