By Paul Waugh Deputy Political Editor, Evening Standard
7 March 2005
Up to 35 racist crimes occur in London every day, new police figures reveal.
Although the figure has dropped since 1999 and the capital has a better record
than the rest of the country, the findings are expected to trigger fresh calls
for action to stamp out abuse.
A Pakistani or Indian man is 13 times more likely to suffer a racial incident
than a white man, with an Arab 12 times more likely, Afro-Caribbeans 11 times
more likely, Chinese five times more likely and Jews three times more likely.
There were 13,319 "racially aggravated incidents" in London in 2004,
statistics from Scotland Yard and the Greater London Authority reveal. A third
of the racist crimes each day in the capital involve harassment while others
include assaults or woundings and criminal damage against property. There
were 216 anti-Semitic crimes last year and seven per cent of all attacks were
against new migrants from eastern Europe and southern Europe, the GLA said.
Ken Livingstone said: "Every attack is intolerable,
whether directed against Asians, black people, Jews, Muslims or anyone else."
He said the police and communities working together have succeeded in reducing
such incidents "but the level is still intolerably high".