Sharp rise in hate crimes reported post Brexit

ACROSS the UK anecdotal evidence and police forces both point towards a sharp rise in racially motivated ‘hate crimes’ since the UK voted to leave the European Union on Friday June 24. 

The Metropolitan Police Force in London have indicated that this is the case for the capital and confirmed they have received nearly 600 reports in the post Brexit period.  The Met said they are currently receiving between 20 and 50 reports a day on average. Crimes reported have ranged from racist graffiti to reports of pork being thrown at a North London Mosque, the latter being captured on CCTV.  

There have also been reports of physical assaults such as a Pole who required hospital treatment when two men attacked him after first asking him if he spoke English. Another worrying statistic is that an estimated 75 per cent of race related crimes go unreported.

The Home Office announced an investigation into the overall rise of hate crime across the UK on Tuesday July 5.