Religious hate crime in England and Wales rose by a record 25 per cent in the last year, fuelled by tensions following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza, government data showed on Thursday.
The highest figure in annual hate crime in over a decade was driven by offences against Jews, according to the Home Office report.
Attacks targeting Jews more than doubled to 3,282 incidents over the period, while the number of incidents against Muslims jumped 13 per cent to 3,866.
Anti-Jews offences accounted for a third (33 per cent) of all religious hate crimes in the last year – the proportion in the previous year was 20 per cent.
Chingford and Woodford Green Labour party office was daubed with antisemitic graffiti during the election campaign (Photo: Esther Webber X/Twitter)
“There were 121 religious hate crimes per 10,000 population targeted at Jewish people, the highest rate for any religious group, and up from 57 per 10,000 the previous year. The next highest rate was for hate crimes targeted at Muslims, with 10 per 10,000 population.”
The report stated: “While there was an overall decrease in hate crime, there was a 25 per cent increase in religious hate crimes compared with the previous year.
“This increase was driven by a rise in hate crimes against Jewish people and to a lesser extent Muslims and has occurred since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“As in previous years, the majority of hate crimes were racially motivated, accounting for over two-thirds of such offences (70%; 98,799 offences)” the government report said.
Overall, Home Office data showed there were 140,561 hate crimes — defined as an offence based on a person’s race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or transgender identity — recorded by the police in the 12 months to March, down from 147,645 the previous year. Racially motivated crimes accounted for more than two-thirds of offences.
The report showed several “spikes” in hate crime. “The most recent of these is seen in October 2023 and coincides with the Israel-Hamas conflict. In October 2023, the police recorded 817 racially or religiously aggravated harassment offences, the highest ever monthly total for these crimes,” the Home Office said.
“When the October 7 attack happened, we knew immediately that there would be a rise in antisemitism, but the scale and the speed took us by surprise,” said Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust (CST).
New Home Office data shows record high levels of religiously motivated hate crime, driven by attacks targeting Jews (Photo: National March Against Antisemitism organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, November 2023)
Meanwhile, Iman Atta, director at Tell Mama, a project that tackles anti-Muslim abuse, said: “The war on Gaza has left some questioning their safety and sense of belonging in the UK — a feeling compounded by the far-right violence in parts of the country following the horrific stabbings in Southport,” referring to the attack on July 29 in which three children were killed and eight injured.
“This demonstrates that we really need robust and updated hate crime and social cohesion plans in place,” she said.
While overall hate crime figures were down 5 per cent on the previous year, data from the Metropolitan Police showed an uptick in hate crime in London over the summer, rising from 3,786 in May and June to 4,384 in July and August.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper responded to the report on Thursday and said the government would work “tirelessly” to tackle the “appalling” levels of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate across the country.
“We must not allow events unfolding in the Middle East to play out in increased hatred and tension here on our streets, and those who push this poison — offline or online — must face the full force of the law,” the home secretary said.
