'SOCIETY MUST NEUTRALISE THOSE SEEKING DIVISION'

by Baroness Williams of Trafford,

Minister of state for countering extremism

IN THE past six months the country has suffered one of the most traumatic periods I can remember, with terrorist atrocities in London and Manchester and the unspeakable tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Throughout this time, we have been able to take some comfort from the solidarity and support emanating from the vast majority of the British public towards one another.

But while these tragic events brought out the best in most of us, we cannot ignore that the horrendous acts of terror also brought out something ugly, hateful and violent in a tiny minority.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council has confirmed that in the days immediately following each of the recent atrocities in London and Manchester, spikes in hate crime were recorded across the country.

These despicable attacks affecting innocent individuals targeted simply because of their race or religion are totally unacceptable and have no place in this country which prides itself on diversity and tolerance.

In one case in Manchester, Naveed Yasin was racially abused and labelled a “terrorist” as he travelled to Salford Royal Hospital, where he works as a surgeon and where he helped treat those hurt in the Manchester Arena attack.

Other incidents around the country include a woman from Southampton whose veil was ripped from her head and a suspected arson attack on a mosque in Oldham.

Incidents like these, in which innocent communities are targeted on the back of the isolated actions of these twisted individuals, are of significant concern and only add to the trauma we as a society suffer.

The NPCC’s figures show that hate crime incidents returned to pre-attack levels a few days after the attacks. This was largely due to the joint response of police forces, government and civil society groups to support victims and bring communities together.

This shows that by working together we can ensure these individuals will not succeed in their goal to sow permanent division and hatred.

However, I am clear that a single hate crime attack is one too many, which is why this government is doing everything it can to wipe out hatred and division in our communities.

We are supporting faith communities in safely exercising their fundamental right to practise their religious beliefs, making available £2.4 million to protect places of worship. Following the horrendous Finsbury Park attack, we made an additional £1m available to protect vulnerable faith institutions and associated community centres from hate attacks.

Working closely with organisations such as the anti-Muslim hate crime project Tell MAMA we are helping to encourage victims of hate crime to come forward and improving the support they receive when they do.

We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime, including offences of inciting racial and religious hatred, and racial and religious aggravated offences such as intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress. The legislation provides equal protection under the law for all ethnic and religious groups.

Our message is clear: those who commit these awful crimes, will be met with the full force of the law.

Since last year, the police have recorded religion-based hate crime by faith, so we can target our approach to stamp these awful crimes out.

I am confident these measures will encourage people to report any hate crime to the police, www.report-it.org.uk – the True Vision anti-hate crime website, or to third party reporting centres.

But we know there is more to do, which is why we have also asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to assess the police response to ensure hate crime is dealt with effectively and efficiently. We are also working with the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to ensure that all those who commit hate crimes receive heavier sentences.

We are determined to do everything we can to tackle hatred in all its forms and we will not rest until the scourge of hate crime is wiped out.