The government has today released figures which reveal that the number of hate crimes that took place last year was a ten per cent increase on the previous year.
There were 103,379 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2018/19.
Responding, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Christine Jardine said: “There can be no doubt that divisive, inflammatory rhetoric from right-wing, pro-Brexit politicians – including Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage – has contributed to this shocking rise in hate crime.
“All of us with a public platform must stand up to those whose language spreads hate – whether on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or anything else.
“Liberal Democrats will tackle the appalling rise in hate crimes by making them all ‘aggravated offences’, so that hate crimes against women, LGBT+ people or people with disabilities are treated as severely as those motivated by racial or religious hatred.
“We will give the police the resources and training they need to identify and prevent hate crimes, and condemn politicians who use inflammatory language.”