Racist hate crimes have increased by 400% in the week since Brexit vote

The United Kingdom has seen an enormous increase in reported hate crimes since the country voted to leave the EU last week.

The successful Leave campaign relied heavily on anti-immigration rhetoric and sentiment, insisting that Britain needed to regain control of its borders and half the flow of migrants. Since the referendum result, social media has been flush with informal reports of hate crimes - but police have confirmed that this increase is reflected in official reports. According to the UK Independent, The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) revealed 331 hate crime incidents had been reported to a national online portal, True Vision, since the EU referendum, compared to the weekly average of 63. This represents a 400% increase on the usual rate of reported hate crime - and that figure could still be low, as hate-crimes are often under-reported according to Sara Thornton, NPCC chairwoman. Thornton advised that anyone who has been the victim of a racist hate crime in the UK should let the police know.