Brexit referendum led to 42% spike in racist incidents, police say

LONDON -- The UK's vote to leave the European Union has had one very worrying side effect: A sharp spike in reports of hate crimes. 

Reports to police of hate crime went up by 42% from June 16-30, to more than 3,000 allegations. The referendum was held on June 23. 

“I believe the referendum debate has led to an increase in reporting of hate crime. It is very clear in the last couple of weeks that more people have been aware of experiencing such incidents than we have had before,” Mark Hamilton, head of the National Police Chiefs' Council, told The Guardian.

The reported crimes were mainly harassment and threats against "visible minorities" as well as people from Eastern Europe, Hamilton said.

The police chief said that there was likely an increase both in incidents and in reporting of incidents. Police say that only about one in four incidents is actually reported, so there are likely to have been many more incidents.

"Some people took [the vote] as a licence to behave in a racist or other discriminatory way. We can not divorce the country’s reaction to the referendum and the increase in hate crime reporting,” Hamilton said.

After the vote for Brexit, Twitter users shared racist episodes with #postbrexitracism and #postrefracism. On Facebook, an album called "Worrying Signs" compiled all the incidents.

Incidents include racist graffiti with the words "Go Home" sprayed on a Polish community building in Hammersmith, and people shouting "Go back to your country" in Hackney.

Police say that the numbers have now dropped close to the usual levels, but they would still be closely monitoring the situation and collating numbers on a weekly basis. 

Reports of racist incidents tend to spike after big events, such as an increase in Islamophobic incidents after the Paris attacks in November 2015.

Tell MAMA, a project that documents Islamophobic incidents, said on June 29 that there had been a 326% rise in anti-Muslim hatred reports in 2015. It said it was concerned about the post-Brexit environment and urged leaders for help.

"With the backdrop of the Brexit vote and the spike in racist incidents that seems to be emerging, the government should be under no illusions, things could quickly become extremely unpleasant for Britain's minorities," Tell MAMA chair Shahid Malik said in a statement emailed to Mashable.

"So today more than ever, we need our government, our political parties and of course our media to act with the utmost responsibility and help steer us towards a post-Brexit Britain where xenophobia and hatred are utterly rejected," Malik said.

You can report hate crime to the police on 101 or using the True Vision website. You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.