The month after the Brexit vote, recorded racist verbal and physical assault rose — and even arson — by 41% in the UK.
Recorded hate crimes rose 19% year on year in 2015-16 from the same period the year before.
Hate crimes are believed to be underreported.
Racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41% in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU, figures show.
There were 3,886 such crimes logged in July 2015, rising to 5,468 in July this year, according to the Home Office.
It said the sharp increase declined in August but has “remained at a higher level than prior to the EU referendum”.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the government was “determined to stamp it out”.
The number of hate crimes overall in the year 2015-16 was up 19% on the previous year.
Latest figures show that 62,518 offences were recorded by police.
Of these, 79% were motivated by race hate, 12% by sexual orientation, 7% by religion, 6% by disability and 1% were transgender hate crimes.
Race and religious hate crimes rose 41% after EU vote
[BBC]