Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the increase in Islamophobic hate crimes after the 2016 EU referendum.

Police recorded hate crime across all strands, including those targeting Muslims, has increased despite a backdrop of a longer-term downward trend in the experience of hate crime overall according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales. We know that there have been trigger events for increases in hate crime, such as the EU Referendum and the terror attacks in 2017, though data shows that these have been temporary. A significant driver of this overall increase is general improvements in police recording, and through our work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and third party services such as Tell MAMA, police are better at identifying whether a crime is a hate crime and victims may be more willing to come forward.

The Government has a comprehensive plan to tackle hate crime in all its forms, as set out in the refreshed Hate Crime Action Plan published in October 2018, which sets out a programme of work across Government and by the police. We are clear that Britain leaving the EU cannot be a reason to target groups or individuals because of their faith or background. We will not tolerate efforts to create division in our communities, against EU citizens or people of any other race, faith or background.