Telford councillors will fight hate crime

Former Telford & Wrekin Council leader Kuldip Sahota tabled the motion at the meeting of the full council on Thursday.

He called on councillors to support action which will see the authority work with partners in a bid to reduce the number of hate crimes.

It comes after the Brexit referendum, where Britain voted to leave the EU, West Mercia saw its highest level of crimes with a range of "aggravating factors" including race, disability, sexual orientation or hate last summer.

The motion says: "Since the Brexit vote we have seen a rise in hate crime across the country. We are proud to represent and live in a diverse, multi-cultural and tolerant community where racism, xenophobia and other hate crimes have no place in the borough of Telford and Wrekin.

"This council condemns hate crime in the strongest possible terms.

"We would like to reassure everyone living in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, regardless of their background, that they are a valued member of our community."

Figures, breaking down the number of hate crimes month-on-month under West Mercia showed that in July 2016 there were 112 crimes of this nature in the force covering Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Figures, revealed through Freedom of Information requests, showed between May 23 to July 23 last year, it recorded 219 crimes with a range of "aggravating factors" including racial, disability, sexual orientation or hate.

A total of 74 of those were reported in Shropshire and Telford, including two assaults with injury reported in Telford, and a third in Shrewsbury.

Councillor Sahota said: "It's with great regret and fear that I'm tabling this motion. The main issue in Brexit was immigration. After the vote some people felt it gave them the legitimacy to indulge in this type of hate crime. This is when hate figures went up.

"My wife was the victim of a hate crime as well. I was approached by many local people who said they had been racially abused as well.

"We're not living in the days when some people felt they were inherently superior, we're all equal now.

"My grandfather fought with the British army, my uncle fought too. My father came to this country in the 50s and worked his guts out to back this country after the war.

"Let us all send a clear message to everyone out there that hate crime will not be tolerated anywhere and we will fight to eradicate this cancer from our society."

Dawley and Aqueduct Councillor Andy Burford seconded the motion and said: "This isn't just about Brexit, it's true we saw an increase, but just as significant was the increase before the Brexit vote in March last year.

"Fear and hatred can spread like a contagion.

"What can we do to counter the increase in hate crime- very simply it comes down to speaking up against racism wherever it rears its head."

The motion was carried unanimously by the full council.