More than 80,000 instances of hate crime have been recorded in the UK over the past year, according to new government data.
The number stood at around 62,500 the year before, the UK Home Office said Tuesday, warning of a 29-percent increase year-on-year.
Topping the list of the hate crimes with a whopping 78 percent were offenses motivated by racial bias, followed by sexual orientation (11 percent), religion (7 percent), disability (7 percent) and transgender identity (2 percent).
The Home Office explained that since many cases had more than one motivating factor, the sum went beyond 100 percent.
Crimes against the person, including assaults and threats, and public order offenses were the most common types of attacks recorded.
The department said there was a “genuine rise in hate crime around the time of the (European Union) EU referendum” in June last year, where 52 percent of Britons opted to end their country’s membership in the…