Race and religious hate crimes hit record high in England and Wales
Home Office figures for the year to March 2026 show 146,825 police-recorded hate crimes, up 7%, with racially and religiously motivated offences at record highs once Metropolitan Police data is excluded.
Police-recorded hate crime in England and Wales rose 7% to 146,825 offences in the year to March 2026, according to Home Office figures published on Thursday, with racially and religiously motivated crimes reaching record highs.
Religious hate crime climbed 13%, from 10,067 to 11,419 offences, while race hate crime — still the majority of cases — increased 9%, from 98,890 to 107,926 (Clacton and Frinton Gazette).
When Metropolitan Police figures are excluded because of a change in the force’s crime-recording system, both race and religious hate crime hit their highest annual levels since records began in the year ending March 2012 — 8,214 religious offences and 90,378 race offences.
Crimes targeting Muslims rose 15%, from 4,479 to 5,132, with the Home Office noting sharp increases in September 2025, coinciding with protests and public disorder, and in March, following the US going to war with Iran. Antisemitic offences increased 10%, from 2,874 to 3,162, and have remained elevated since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Policing minister Sarah Jones said the data offered “a stark warning that hatred continues to blight our communities”, adding: “This government will not tolerate people being targeted by threats and violence simply for being who they are” (The Times).
The government-funded British Muslim Trust said it had tracked and verified 78 attacks and incidents at Muslim places of worship in the 12 months to July.
Sources: Clacton and Frinton Gazette, The Times
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