New figures show that there has been a worrying surge in hate crime due to people’s religious faith.
Of the recorded religious hate crime, 52 per cent was targeted at people of the Muslim faith.
In total the number of hate crimes was a record 94,098 from April 2017 to March 2018, an increase of 17 per cent. Of that figure 76 per cent were labelled as “race hate.”
According to the police figures, the number of hate crimes has more than doubled since 2012/13, when 42,255 were recorded.
The Home Office document said: “This increase is thought to be largely driven by improvements in police recording, although there has been spikes in hate crime following certain events such as the EU referendum and the terrorist attacks in 2017.
“It is thought that the sharp increase in religious hate crimes is due to a rise in these offences following the terrorist attacks in 2017.”
Hate crime is defined as an offence which the victim considers to be driven by hostility towards their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.
Goths, men, women and elderly people could now receive protection under hate crime laws after officials announced a wide-ranging review of current legislation.
More to follow…