British police on Friday reported a sharp increase in hate crimes in the weeks before and after the June 23 EU referendum, which was dominated by a divisive debate about immigration. More than 3,000 incidents were reported to police across Britain between June 16 and 30, up 42 percent on the same period last year, according to the National Police Chiefs' Council. "We now have a clear indication of the increases in the reporting of hate crime nationally and can see that there has been a sharp rise in recent weeks," said Mark Hamilton, the council's lead officer on hate crime.
