Hate Crimes Soar Since Brexit Vote - Police

Hate crime incidents reported to an online reporting site since last Thursday have soared from an average of 63 to more than 300, police figures show.

The National Police Chiefs' Council said 331 hate crime incidents have been reported to the national online reporting site True Vision.

Chairwoman Sara Thornton said: "It is important to remember that this is only one reporting mechanism and extensive focus on this issue in the last few days will have influenced these numbers by making hate crime and the site more visible and encouraging people to report.

"We also cannot determine how many of the reports are linked to the referendum."

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has expressed his concern about the surge in incidents.

He told Sky News on Friday: "There seems to have been a very, very sharp rise in xenophobia and in hate crime.

"We have to say the referendum is irrelevant to that. That is poisonous, it is deeply wrong, it is an evil thing to do.

"What we need is the capacity to speak with respect and love and compassion and grace to each other, even when we disagree."

On Monday Prime Minister David Cameron addressed fears of a hate crime backlash, saying: "In the past few days, we have seen despicable graffiti smeared on a Polish community centre and heard verbal abuse shouted at individuals who are members of ethnic minorities.

"Let's remember that these people have come here and made a wonderful contribution to our country.

"We will not stand for hate crime or these kind of attacks, they must be stamped out."

On Sunday, Former Conservative chairwoman Baroness Warsi told Sky News that race hate crime organisations were reporting some "disturbing early results".

There were reports of hate notes being posted through the doors of Polish residents in Cambridgeshire and scores of accounts of post-Brexit racism posted on social media.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he had asked Scotland Yard - Britain's largest force - to be "extra vigilant" for any rise in cases.