{"id":9511,"date":"2016-08-11T17:02:46","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T16:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9511"},"modified":"2016-08-11T17:02:46","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T16:02:46","slug":"hate-crime-on-the-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9511","title":{"rendered":"Hate crime on the rise"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Efforts to tackle the spike in racist hate crime following the vote to leave the EU must be redoubled, a new TUC report has concluded.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since the June 23 vote there has been a major increase in racist and xenophobic incidents, with the National Police Chiefs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Council reporting a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/brexit-hate-crime-racism-reports-eu-referendum-latest-a7106116.html\">57 percent rise in hate crime<\/a> during the days directly after the referendum.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The spike followed on the heels of Home Office <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-34515763\">figures<\/a> for 2014\/15 showing an 18 per cent increase in hate crime, as well as charities reporting Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents more than doubling.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The TUC said that trade unions, employers and the government must do more to tackle racist behaviour. The \u00e2\u20ac\u0098<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuc.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/ChallengingracismaftertheEUreferendum2.pdf\">Challenging Racism after the EU Referendum<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 report proposed closer monitoring of far-right activities, the adoption of zero-tolerance workplace policies and the abolition of employment tribunal fees.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The congress also published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuc.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/CombattingracistabuseTUCguide.pdf\">guide<\/a> containing information and practical advice on dealing with racism in the workplace for union reps.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Despite progress reducing xenophobia and racism in Britain, we are a long way from eradicating it. And the recent surge in racist incidents since the Brexit vote is deeply disturbing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said TUC general secretary Frances O&#8217;Grady.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to stand up for modern British and trade union values &#8211; respect for difference, dignity at work, and a deep opposition to racism and extremism. Trade unions have long been a part of the fight against racism, but we can and should do more &#8211; as should the government and employers across the UK.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Countering the narrative<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Unite national equalities officer Harish Patel blamed the sudden surge of racism on the inflammatory rhetoric that became commonplace during the Brexit debate and demanded that the <a href=\"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/devastating-impact\/\">proposals to close<\/a> regional Equality and Human Rights Council (EHRC) offices be scrapped.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The rise in the increase in racist and xenophobic incidents is a direct result of the language used during the EU referendum,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The government must take firm action now which must include reversing the cuts on local equality councils, who are far better placed to bring harmony and unity to their communities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unite is already working with employers to ensure they are taking effective measures in the workplace to tackle any racist and xenophobic incidents,&#8221; Patel added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Staff at the Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) campaign have been dealing with the fallout of the normalisation of anti-immigrant sentiment in classrooms across the country for the past few years, according to the campaign\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coordinator Gavin Sutherland.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sutherland welcomed the TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report and reminded those with a public voice of their duty not to spread fear and misinformation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe media and politicians have a responsibility to present a factual debate about immigration,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The consequences of not doing so are increased intolerance and prejudice in society, which becomes evident in younger people too.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEducation is incredibly important in challenging racism and campaigns, trade unions, teachers and parents currently face an uphill battle to counter the mainstream narrative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Efforts to tackle the spike in racist hate crime following the vote to leave the EU must be redoubled, a new TUC report has concluded. &nbsp; Since the June 23 vote there has been a major increase in racist and xenophobic incidents, with the National Police Chiefs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Council reporting a 57 percent rise in hate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[153,242],"wps_subtitle":"TUC report calls for immediate action ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9512,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9511\/revisions\/9512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}