The far right has been emboldened to target Jewish, Black, LGBT, disabled people and others, says Diane Abbott.
Source: Morning Star
It was confirmed this week in new figures released by the Home Office that hate crimes have rocketed by almost a third in the UK in the past year.This is the largest annual increase since records began six years ago, with unprecedented spikes around the EU referendum and terror attacks recorded by police.
In a 29 per cent rise from the previous year, data from police forces across England and Wales showed there were almost 80,400 hate crimes recorded in the 2016-17 financial year — a dramatic increase in incidents motivated by attackers’ hostility towards their race, nationality, religion or other factors.
Almost 80 per cent of the incidents recorded involved race-hate crimes. Rising hate crime is unacceptable, especially given the fall in prosecutions this year.
Hate crime is defined as “any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic.”
They were mainly public order offences, which include making threats, insults and provoking violence, followed by violence against the person, criminal damage including vandalism, and arson.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “There were a number of spikes in racially or religiously aggravated offences. These were in June 2016 [after the EU referendum result], March 2017 [after the Westminster Bridge attack], May 2017 [after the Manchester Arena bombing]and June 2017 [after the London Bridge and Finsbury Park mosque attacks].”
While improved reporting may explain a part of this increase, Stop Hate UK’s Mike Ainsworth was among those who pointed out that “the rise is too great to simply be accounted for by a greater level of efficiency.”
I have dealt with such cases in my constituency and I have myself been subjected to a torrent of online racist abuse, not all of which has been reported.
The reports came during National Hate Crime Awareness Week, and we need to be clear that this is not inevitable and something can be done about it — we need to show leadership.
It is welcome that cabinet minister Damian Green is on the record as saying that political debate in Britain is currently too abusive, yet now members of his government must do more in this regard.
Change and a clear lead needs to come from the top to ensure that people do not feel discriminatory views are acceptable. In particular, politicians must end the race to the bottom on immigration.
The Tories have made great claims about tackling burning injustices. But they are clearly not tackling the great injustice of being attacked simply because of your religion, your sexuality, the colour of your skin or your disability.
Instead rhetoric from parts of the Tories legitimises those who will tell someone to “go home.”
The government’s own policies and rhetoric — both currently and over a number of years — have clear responsibility in this area.
From Go Home vans, to demonising international students, to talking about a foreigner-free NHS, this is a government whose policies are contributing to a climate of hate and fear.
Indeed it was only this August that a scathing cross-party report said the government was fuelling “toxic” anti-immigrant sentiment and that Theresa May’s discredited target of cutting net migration to under 100,000 was particularly to blame for “stoking anxiety.”
Furthermore, the rise of the far right across Europe arises within a hostile political climate which scapegoats migrants and Muslims.
This is mirrored by US President Donald Trump’s notorious wall and the ban on Muslim countries which has emboldened the Ku Klux Klan, who actively defended the slave-era confederacy in Charlottesville, where an anti-racist protester was killed.
The words “an injury to one is an injury to all” could not be more relevant than in the campaign against racism.
Emboldened by a hostile climate against migrants and Muslims, the far right targets Jewish, Black, LGBT, disabled people and others.
Labour will hire 10,000 extra police to ensure there are sufficient officers working in the community who can help tackle crimes like this, but most importantly we will stop legitimising those who seek to scapegoat the “Other.”
We stand up against this scapegoating — and clearly stand for both people’s rights and for a fair approach to immigration to the benefit of our economy and society.
You can follow Diane Abbott on twitter.com/HackneyAbbott and facebook.com/DianeAbbott.