Some of the largest police forces in the UK have seen a double spike in types of religious hate crime in the past 18 months, with numbers jumping after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in autumn 2023 and again following the Southport attacks this summer, figures reveal.
Antisemitic offences recorded by forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands and the Metropolitan Police, rose sharply in the weeks following the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East in October last year.
Police-recorded antisemitic offences for Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and West Midlands
Credit: PA Graphics
The same forces then logged an increase in Islamophobic offences in the wake of the stabbings in Southport in July this year and the subsequent violent disorder in towns and cities.
A Jewish charity called the findings “unacceptable”, while campaigners against anti-Muslim abuse said they were “not seeing the action to tackle this problem”.
The Government said it was “determined to stamp out the toxic vitriol which is spread by a minority of people”.
A PA graphic showing the number of hate crime offences recorded by Merseyside Police
(PA Graphics)
Credit: PA Graphics
The figures have been obtained by the PA news agency using Freedom of Information requests. They show that:
– Greater Manchester Police recorded an average of 13 antisemitic offences per month from January to September 2023, then spikes of 85 in October and 68 in November, falling back in following months; Islamophobic offences averaged 35 a month in 2023 and 39 a month from January to July 2024, before a sharp jump to 85 in August then 21 in September.
– Antisemitic offences recorded by West Yorkshire Police averaged six a month from Jan-Sep 2023, jumped to 44 in October, then fell back to lower levels; Islamophobic offences averaged 33 a month in 2023 and 39 a month from Jan-Jul 2024, before rising to 94 in August then 73 in September.
– The British Transport Police recorded a monthly average of seven antisemitic offences in Jan-Sep 2023, followed by a jump to 60 in October and 70 in November, after which the numbers fell back; it also saw low numbers of Islamophobic offences each month (under 20) across this period, apart from spikes in November 2023 (42) and August 2024 (29).
– The Metropolitan Police changed the way it records hate crime at the end of February 2024 but, under the previous method, an average of 54 antisemitic offences were logged per month in Jan-Sep 2023, followed by a steep rise to 517 in October, 411 in November and 228 in December; while, under the new method, an average of 116 Islamophobic offences were recorded each month from Mar-Jul 2024, followed by 190 in August and 97 in September.
