Hate crime law is to be strengthened so perpetrators face tougher sentences after a successful campaign led by Rachel in parliament.
Rachel said it was unacceptable that up until now those who committed acts of racial and religious hatred received harsher punishments than those who committed hate crimes against LGBT and disabled people, which is why the law needed to be changed.
Last year, Rachel introduced an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would make all hate crimes – and not just those motivated by race and religion – ‘aggravated offences’ worthy of tougher sentences. Today (15 April), the North Warwickshire and Bedworth MP expressed her delight that the change she campaigned for has now been passed by MPs and will become law.
She also welcomed the government’s move to introduce a new crime of hate motivated by misogyny to hate crime law for the first time.
Rachel’s campaign was backed by 104 cross-party MPs, who added their name to the amendment ahead of a debate on the Crime and Policing Bill. During that debate, Rachel said: “We must have hate crime laws that show that whether it is your race or your religion, your sexual orientation, your gender identity, or indeed your disability, that Britain is a country that will not tolerate it. That all hatred is equal. And that all those who commit vile acts of hatred will face the same grave consequences.”
Rachel said:
“My constituents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth need to know that they are protected from vile acts of hate, whether that’s racist hate or hate motivated by the fact they are gay or disabled.
“It’s shocking that between March 2023 – 2024, over 40,000 hate crimes against people in Britain because of their sexual orientation, transgender identity, or disability were recorded by the police. I am absolutely delighted that the government have listened to me and the cross-party MPs who supported this vital change, and that MPs last night voted for that change to become law.”