These are just a handful of the stories I’ve been sent. These crimes are a matter of national shame. Figures released last week by the National Police Chiefs’ Council revealed that hate crime reports, after a jump of 58% in the week following the nation’s endorsement of Brexit, are still 14% higher than a year ago. But note: these are reported incidents. Almost none of the people who got in touch with me reported their abuse to the police. One said the process took too long; another said the police were “actively unhelpful” when they had previously reported mugging and homophobic abuse; another: “It was late, and I just wanted to get home and forget it had happened, to be honest.” [...]
Discussing the post-referendum wave of racist and xenophobic abuse can provoke a rather dispiritingly defensive reaction. The issue is being politicised – so the retort goes – in order to undermine the referendum result. So let this column be clear: nothing of the sort is happening. The British people voted to leave the EU, their verdict must be respected and accepted, and the debate now focuses on ensuring a just Brexit. [...]
And here is what happened. The small minority of people in this country who believe it is acceptable to yell racist abuse at strangers getting on with their lives felt emboldened. Their intolerance now seemed to have official sanction. They believed that, given the politicians’ rhetoric, the British people had voted to drive foreigners out of the country – that, for the first time, they had a democratic mandate.
This perceived mandate now has to be destroyed. Polling shows, for example, that 77% of leave voters believe EU migrants already living here should remain. We need a coalition of remain and leave figures to come together to confront this tide of racism and xenophobia.
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