A United Nations committee has urged Britain to curb hate speech by British politicians and high-profile public figures which it said had played a direct role in fuelling summer riots.
“(The committee) is concerned about the persistence and in some cases sharp increase of hate crimes, hate speech and xenophobic incidents,” UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in a press release.
This included racist and xenophobic speech by politicians and public figures in print, broadcast and online media, it added. Ministers must “adopt comprehensive measures to discourage and combat racist hate speech and xenophobic discourse by political and public figures” and ensure that such cases are “effectively investigated and sanctioned”, the committee recommended in a report.
Committee member Gün Kut told journalists there was a direct link between xenophobic speeches and racial violence. The UN committee, which reviews all countries’ records every few years, also referred to concerns about institutional racism in Britain’s policing and justice system. There was no immediate comment from the UK Government.
No names given
The committee declined to name which politicians or public figures had made comments triggering the committee’s concern, but added there were “so many credible reports” of racist comments by high-profile individuals that there was “no doubt that the issue is a serious one in the UK”.
