UN Report Blames UK Politicians For Hate Crime Spike Around Brexit Vote

A United Nations committee has blamed "divisive" and "anti-immigrant" rhetoric by United Kingdom politicians during the European Union referendum for helping to fuel a spike in race hate crimes in the weeks before and after the vote, BBC News reports. The committee report said prominent political figures had "failed to condemn" racist abuse and created prejudices during the campaign. Some 3,198 hate crimes were reported from June 16 to 30 – a 42 percent rise from the same dates in 2015. The UK government said it had a zero tolerance approach to hate crime, backed by strong and effective laws. The report by the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it was...