Former Scottish secretary Alistair Carmichael has called for action to deal with hate crime after new figures revealed a post EU referendum spike.
The northern isles MP, who is the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman, urged people to come together.
Data released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) showed incidents peaked the day after the poll result was announced.
There were 289 alleged offences across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on June 25 – equivalent to 12 every hour.
More than 3,000 hate crimes and incidents were reported to forces around the country in the second half of June – a rise of 42% compared with the same period last year.
Responding to the numbers, which do not include Scotland, Mr Carmichael said: “In recent weeks reports of hate crimes in the UK have increased, fuelled by years of hostile rhetoric, coupled with the divisive referendum campaign.
“We all must come together now and condemn these actions immediately and do everything in our power to make people safe and welcome.
“The home secretary urgently needs to ask every police commissioner how they are tackling racism, xenophobia and hate crimes in their areas.”
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, NPCC lead for hate crime, said: “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.
“This is unacceptable and it undermines the diversity and tolerance we should instead be celebrating.
“Forces have been monitoring and managing hate crime more robustly since the attacks in Paris in 2015. We believe that greater awareness and confidence in the police response has contributed to this increase in reporting.”
