Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle hate crime in rural areas.

This Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime, wherever in the country it occurs, and whoever is responsible for committing it.

There is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking strong action against those crimes.

We currently fund an online reporting portal to ensure victims do not have to visit a police station to report any hate crime they experience, and we also fund a National Hub which provides expert advice to police forces across the country on what they can do to tackle the increasing levels of online hate crime.