New government figures show that the number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales has risen by 26 percent this year, but critics say this is indicative that the police believe that “hate is everywhere.”
On Thursday, the Home Office released the latest data on hate crime which saw the biggest yearly increase since records began in 2012. The majority of hate crimes were racially motivated, but transgender hate crimes saw the biggest rise at 53 percent, up from 2,630 in 2020–2021 to 4035 in 2021–2022.
While the government signposted that there had been increase, it also said, “Due to significant improvements in police recorded crime made in recent years, it is uncertain to what degree the increase in police recorded hate crime is a genuine rise, or due to continued recording improvements and more victims having the confidence to report these crimes to the police.”…