The right response from Rudd
Every crime is a tragedy, but there is something peculiarly tragic about hate crimes: those motivated not by greed, rage or spite, but by the identity of their victim. Each one is a breach of the great contract between the citizens of our democracy: that no one should suffer for the colour of their skin or the nature of their faith, for their name or nationality or sexuality or disability.
Hate crimes come in all shapes and sizes, from the passing ethnic slur to the stone thrown through the synagogue window to the kind of tragedy seen in Munich, where a troubled young man appears – although the picture is still unclear – to have become influenced by the xenophobic doctrines of the murderous Norwegian extremist Anders Breivik. (The attack came on the fifth anniversary of Breivik’s atrocity on the island of Utoya, and investigators say there is an “obvious link” between the two.)
And what is especially worrying is that hate crime, both major and minor, is on the increase. It was widely reported that there was a distressing spike in the UK at around the time of the EU referendum, with 3,076 incidents in the second half of June, compared with 2,161 in 2015.
More alarming is the steady, long-term rise: the Crown Prosecution Service announced earlier this month that it had dealt with 15,442 hate crimes in the previous year. This was a 4.8 per cent increase on the figure a year before, which in turn was 4.7 per cent higher than the year before that.
Under such circumstances, the decision by Amber Rudd, the new Home Secretary, to crack down on hate crime can only be welcomed. The headline figure is the £2.4 million that will be devoted to a new fund for improving security at places of worship. But arguably of more importance will be the tightening of guidance issued on crimes motivated by race or religion, and the requirement that prosecutors seek tougher sentences for those convicted of such crimes. The idea is that the sterner the treatment meted out, the more victims will be encouraged to come forward.
It can be tempting, reading the horrors in the headlines, to conclude that we are living in a divided society, and one that is becoming more so. Yet this is, in many ways, the opposite of the truth. Ms Rudd spoke in her announcement of “the rich diversity and tolerance of our society and the shared values that underpin it” – such as “democracy, free speech, mutual respect and opportunity for all”. Indeed: it is easy to forget, but despite the occasional points of friction, there has never been any place or time in which so many people, from so many different backgrounds, have rubbed along so happily, harmoniously and profitably as in modern Britain.
Ours is the nation of the chicken tikka and the chip butty; a country with a Muslim mayor of London and the largest number of gay and lesbian MPs in the world. It is also a place where the overwhelming majority would agree with Ms Rudd that “hatred directed against any community, race or religion has no place”. It is obviously alarming and unwelcome that such crimes are on the rise. But we trust that the robust response that the Home Secretary is proposing will help to protect the victims of such bigotry and hatred, and make sure that its perpetrators suffer the appropriate consequences.