Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to prevent a potential rise in hate crime in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

We are clear that there is no excuse for using the British people's decision to leave the EU to target people of any faith or background, and that includes EU nationals. All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable and this country has one of the strongest legal frameworks in the world to report, record and prosecute hate crime. We are funding hate crime reporting platforms, including Tell MAMA and True Vision who seek to increase hate crime reporting, helping communities unearth and challenge such behaviour.

More broadly, we are continuing our work to ensure that Britain remains a country where people live, work, learn and socialise together and share rights and responsibilities, whatever their background. We are engaging with communities of all faiths and background, to make sure that we understand any concerns communities may have and can provide targeted support. We have also worked with community and local partners to develop and publish guidance to support local authorities to engage effectively with all communities during this period.