Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has turned out to be a chaotic cliffhanger. Brexit has divided the nation, it has torn apart political parties and even families. Britain has also seen significant rise of far-right populism, xenophobia, racism and hate crimes. According to statistics published by the police in England and Wales, over 94 000 hate crime offences were recorded during 2017/18, an increase of 17 % compared to the previous year. The increase during 2016/17 was even greater, 29 %. The number of hate crimes recorded by the police has more than doubled since 2012/13. Even though the increase can be partially explained by improvements in crime recording by the police, there have been clear “spikes” in hate crime after the EU Referendum in 2016 and after the terrorist attacks in 2017 (1, 2, 3, 4).
One form of far-right populism has been the increasingly aggressive activity against politicians and other people who support the Remain option. Tory MP Anna Soubry was intimidated and abused by British far-right mobsters and supporters of Brexit on Monday. The pro-Brexit protesters called remain-backing Soubry “a Nazi”. Mrs Soubry was harassed and intimidated the same way already in December last year (5). Other people harassed on Monday were journalist Owen Jones from The Guardian and Femi Oluwole, chief spokesperson for Our Future, Our Choice. Mr. Oluwole condemned the abuse and threatening behavior of the pro-Brexit protesters. He added:
“Plenty of people around the country are frustrated with the Brexit process – and all but a tiny minority continue to engage in reasonable democratic debate. This debate is absolutely crucial given the vastly different and country-defining options the UK faces. We must be able to have it without feeling like some options are unacceptable because a tiny minority of people are willing to go further, and shout louder, than everyone else. The answer to the far right cannot be to give in. We have never, and will never, let them dictate the terms of debate. When they argue for less democracy, we must call for more.”
However, Mr. Oluwole also condemned aggressive verbal attacks of far-left activists:
“…there’s a key difference between intense political discourse and gratuitous abuse, no matter where you are on the spectrum.” (6)
References:
1) Hate crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/18
2) “Hate crimes soared after EU referendum, Home Office figures confirm” The Guardian 13.10.2016
3) “Hate-crime reports rise by almost a third in a year as Home Office figures illustrate EU-referendum spike” The Independent 17.10.2017
4) “Hate crime surge linked to Brexit and 2017 terrorist attacks” The Guardian 16.10.2018
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/hate-crime-brexit-terrorist-attacks-england-wales
5) “MPs raise safety fears with police after Anna Soubry subjected to ‘Nazi’ chants” The Guardian 7.1.2019
6) “I was harassed outside parliament. These thugs must not stifle Brexit debate” The Guardian 9.1.2019
IDIS Observer 