At a time when some foreign nationals are feeling uncertain about their residency and employment rights following the referendum, the City Council is offering reassurance.
Westminster is one of the most diverse places in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people from different backgrounds living side by side, as we see every day for ourselves in Hyde Park ward. We have been very fortunate that over the past decades we have seen very little tension between communities who mostly live peacefully together. Following reports of increased hate crime following the referendum, we are working with the police and other partners to ensure each and every one of our communities feel safe and secure.
The recently launched Community Cohesion Commission is a cross party group which has been set up to better understand cohesion in Westminster, to ensure our city continues to be a place where everyone feels that they belong, whatever their religion or none, their background, their sexual orientation. It will also be considering how we can address any problems of isolation or individuals or communities and how to address the possible root causes of radicalisation and other related issues.
Further information on the Commission can be found at www.westminster.gov.uk
At the same time the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime is offering practical help for anyone needing to report hate crime:
By phone: call 999 in an emergency, or 101 in a non-emergency.
In person: At any police station with a front counter
Through an app: the MOPAC Hate Crime reporting app can be downloaded for Android or Apple at MOPAC Hate Crime App
Online: at www.report-it.org.uk/your_police_force
Community monitoring groups: you should report all hate crimes to the police, but you can also use community reporting methods such as Tell MAMA for Islamophobic incidents or the Community Security Trust for anti-Semitic offences.
