Anti-Muslim hate crimes to be recorded separately

In Scotland, racial crime remains the most commonly reported hate crime with 3,785 charges reported past year.

Latest figures published Tuesday by the Home Office, the government’s department for internal affairs, revealed there were 52,528 hate crimes recorded by police in 2014-2015, an 18 percent increase compared with the previous 12 months.

Last week the Prime Minister vowed to fight extremism in “the bedrooms of Birmingham”, in his speech to the Conservative Party conference.

Overall data from the survey between 2012/13 to 2014/15 suggests there were an estimated 222,000 hate crimes on average per year.

The actual scale of hate crimes is likely to be higher than the number drawn from police records.

In that period, offences involving religious hatred rose by 45% and race hate crime by 4% in the aftermath of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in London in May 2013.

“I want British Muslims to know we will back them to stand against those who spread hate and to counter the narrative which says Muslims do not feel British”, the prime minister’s office reportedly said, in an emailed statement, Tuesday. “And I want police to take more action against those who persecute others simply due to their religion”, Cameron was quoted as saying.

As a direct result of attacks, Muslim women have said they are removing their headscarves and men are shaving their beards in a bid to disguise their Islamic beliefs through fear of being targeted in religious hate attacks.

According to the government, creating a separate category across the board would enable police, prosecutors, councils and the communities they serve to have a better understanding of the prevalence of anti-Muslim hate crime and allocate resources accordingly.

Responding, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Hate crime has no place in Britain and I am determined to make further progress to ensure we can eradicate this deplorable act”.

“Participants argued that anti-Muslim hate must be challenged from within Muslim communities – too often reluctant to report abuse or attacks – and that the public should intervene and assist victims of anti-Muslim hate where possible”. Other forces categorise them as hate crimes or specific offences such as assault or grievous bodily harm.

He added: “The police are working hard to reduce its impact by listening to victims and supporting the most vulnerable, however, it is also vital that communities and partner agencies come together to challenge hatred wherever they see it”.

In July, Mr Cameron announced a five-year strategy to counter extremism and identified four areas which he said attracted people to extremist Islamist ideology.