London’s Evening Standard writes that since Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, reports of crimes involving racial hatred on the London Underground have risen 57%.
A total of 468 racially and religiously aggravated offences were reported on the Tube from July to December, compared with 297 in the six months leading up to the referendum in June.
The crimes also surged in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote and in the weeks after the election of Donald Trump in November.
Hate offences have increased each year since 2014. British Transport Police recorded a total of 765 last year, 580 in 2015 and 485 in 2014.
British Transport Police make the important point that a nationwide campaign is underway to encourage victims and witnesses to report racial abuse, so it may be that greater awareness is as much in play as increased incidence. The crimes reported include what in the U.S. would be not usually be criminal (e.g. Nazi salutes and slurs) but also assaults, batteries, systematic harassment by tired and emotional solicitors, etc.