Play me again the old tune about white racism.*..

Classic Guardian headline, linking Brexit to both hate crime and terrorism:

Hate crime surge linked to Brexit and 2017 terrorist attacks 

Once busy Remainers had got their immediate hit and were busy distinguishing themselves from hate criminals and terrorists, the Guardian went on to modify, as ever:

The Home Office said the increase was largely driven by improvements in the way police record hate crime. But it also noted “spikes in hate crime following certain events such as the EU referendum and the terrorist attacks in 2017”....

More details followed:

Religious hate crime increased by 40% in the two years to March, to 8,336 incidents representing 9% of all hate crimes...likely to be due to offences following the terrorist attacks on Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester Arena....Race was deemed to be a motivating factor in 76% of recorded hate crime, or 71,251 incidents in the year to March, while sexual orientation was a factor in 11,638 or 12% of incidents. A further 7,226 (8%) incidents were recorded as disability hate crime, and 2% (1,651) of incidents were classed as transgender hate crimes.

The Home Office must have been quick off its feet to define and classify transgender people in order to record crimes against them:

officials announced a major review of what constitutes a hate crime. The Law Commission will consider whether to include misogyny and misandry, as well as antagonism towards alternative lifestyles, such as goth subculture, as part of a broader definition of hate crime.

 

There are further complications too:

Findings from the separate Crime Survey for England and Wales, which tracks the public’s experience of crime, indicate a drop of 40% in hate crime incidents in the past decade.  

So in the middle of all this, where exactly does Brexit fit? A Remainer MP is brought in for comment:

David Lammy MP, part of the pro-Europe Best for Britain campaign, blamed the rise in hate crime on the rhetoric of Brexiters. “The extent to which hate crimes have risen in recent years is shameful. It comes from the very top. Divisive, xenophobic rhetoric from politicians and leaders trickles down into abuse and violence on our streets,” he said...“It is no surprise that Islamophobic attacks on Muslim women who wear veils rose in the days following Boris Johnson’s ‘letterbox’ insult. Similarly, it is no coincidence that the type of anti-immigrant language used by some mainstream politicians has corresponded with spikes in hate crimes.”

So mostly the story is D Lammy embroidery, and work by the Guardian headline writer who chose to bang on and on rather than summarize the actual story. The Lammy quote is classic: trickle down from leaders to the gullible plebs, xenophobic rhetoric , argument replaced by the old 'it is no surprise' or  'no coincidence' tropes. Overall, a smear connecting B Johnson's remarks with Brexit, and, presumably, pro-Brexit remarks with 'xenophobia' and 'anti-immigrant language'?