Race and religious hate crimes on London’s tube network increased 60% following Brexit vote

The Evening Standard reports on figures showing that race and religious hate crime on London’s tube network rose by almost 60% in the six months following the Brexit vote last year.

The figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, show that a total of 468 racially and religiously aggravated offences were reported on the Underground from July to December 2016, compared with 297 in the first six months of the year leading up to the referendum in June.

The figures also indicated that violent race crime had increased on the tube over the previous two years, from 126 violent incidents in 2015 to 145 incidents in 2016.

Across the whole of London’s train system – including Overground and Docklands Light Railway services – race and religious hate crime offences recorded rose by 28% from 642 incidents in 2015 to 827 reports in 2016.

Reports of incidents have included a man giving Nazi salutes on a tube train as well as racist stickers being plastered across stations.

Superintendent Jenny Gilmer, from British Transport Police, said the force had made tackling hate crimes a higher priority, with all reports now being investigated by CID officers. 

Gilmer said, “The sort of hate crime we see on the transport network is verbal abuse rather than physical attacks but this is extremely serious and we treat it extremely seriously. We are putting every effort into investigating these type of offences.”

Tube passengers can report hate crimes to the BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 at any time. In an emergency situation passengers should call 999 or use the passenger alarm to speak to the nearest available member of staff.