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London Mayor Sadiq Khan reiterates “zero tolerance” for hate crime after post-Brexit spike in incidents

London Mayor Sadiq Khan reiterates “zero tolerance” for hate crime after post-Brexit spike in incidents

Categories: Latest News

Monday June 27 2016

The Metro, The Guardian and the London Evening Standard all report on the spike in racist incidents and hate crimes logged since the EU referendum vote result was announced on Friday 24 June.

The social media page, PostRefRacism, has garnered a number of incidents of racist abuse, threats and violence reported by individuals across the country.

The papers report on the “laminated cards” that have been pushed through the letterboxes of Polish families in Cambridge bearing the words “Leave the EU, no more Polish vermin”, and the graffiti found at a Polish cultural centre in Hammersmith.

The PostRefracism page displays a whole range of racist incidents experienced by individuals since Friday. Here are some examples of incidents reported on the page:

“So less than 20 hrs after Brexit results announced, I have the pleasure of being called “a Paki c*nt in a suit” by a homeless man.”

“This evening my daughter left work in Birmingham and saw group of lads corner a Muslim girl shouting “Get out, we voted leave”. Awful times”

“Just arrived at a 78% Muslim school. White man stood making victory signs at families walking past. This is the racism we have legitimised.”

“Men chanting ‘OUT OUT OUT’ @ Muslim women in Brockley. Woman in an Enfield bank shouting ‘this is England we’re white get out of my country’”.

The page relates a banner unfurled at a National Front demonstration in Newcastle which stated: “Stop immigration, Start repatriation”.

The Times reports on social media pages purportedly belonging to far right groups, such as National Action and North West Infidels, posting messages calling for “white jihad” and referring to refugees as “rapefugees”.

The paper reports Facebook is to remove a post by the Bolton branch of the North West Infidels showing a cartoon of foreign men chasing a woman with the caption: “Rapefugees not wanted. Fighting for white rights,” after being alerted to it by the paper.

The company said: “There’s no place for hate speech . . . and we remove it as soon as we become aware of it.”

In a statement following the spike in reported hate incidents, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “As Mayor, I take seriously my responsibility to defend London’s fantastic mix of diversity and tolerance.

“So it’s really important we stand guard against any rise in hate crimes or abuse by those who might use last week’s referendum as cover to seek to divide us.

“I’ve asked out police to be extra vigilant for any rise in cases of hate crime and I’m calling on all Londoners to pull together and rally behind this great city. While I’m Mayor, addressing hate crimes will be a priority for the Met. We will have a zero tolerance approach to any attempt to hurt and divide our communities.”

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