Brexit has given people license to be openly racist according to Baroness Lawrence.
Speaking to LBC this morning the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence said instances of racism are on the rise in Britain, and the Brexit vote is to blame for bringing it to the surface.
Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racist attack in Eltham 25 years ago, the murder that led to the Macpherson Report which revealed an institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police.
According to the latest Home Office data the number of hate crimes in England and Wales has increased by 29 per cent.
There were 80,393 offences in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16 – the largest increase since the Home Office began recording figures in 2011-12.
The report also noted a spike in hate crime around the time of the EU referendum.
Speaking to LBC Baroness Lawrence said: “Since the Brexit, I think it’s as if it’s given people the right to come out and use language that we were hoping had gone.
“It’s always there under the surface, I wouldn’t say it’s ever gone.
“And now, it’s given them licence.”
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