Scotland Yard received 599 post-Brexit hate crime reports

Nearly 600 reports of hate crimes were made to police in London in the immediate aftermath of the UK's referendum vote to leave the European Union, according to Scotland Yard.
Figures show 599 incidents of hate crime were reported to Scotland Yard between June 24, the day the result was announced, and July 2.
There had been a 75 per cent increase in arrests related to such crimes over the past few weeks, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe told senior Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, the chair of the home affairs committee.
The Home Affairs Select Committee (HAC) announced an investigation into hate crime yesterday and has begun the information gathering process.

"You can't escape the conclusion of the cause and the effect. My analysis is that there seems to be an impression that those involved in this sort of behaviour have permission to behave this way," London mayor Sadiq Khan told the London Assembly today in reference to the latest figures.
"You've got to report it. The police want to hear from you. This police service that polices our city now is different to those in the past. From the top to the bottom they care about this," he urged victims.

The Met Police, which is the UK largest police force, usually averages between 20 and 50 reports of hate crime a day.

The force claimed that it had received at least eight allegations that Polish or other European communities had been targeted in the British capital soon after the Brexit vote.
Police have already said the aftermath of the referendum produced a five-fold increase in reports to a special hate crime reporting website, with 331 received by last Wednesday.