Hate crimes are vile and inexcusable – local authorities and the government must work to increase prosecution rates

Victims need to have the courage and confidence to come forward and low statistics do not help

The number of hate crimes has been on the rise

The police don’t tolerate hate crime. Why should you?” says a campaign logo produced by True Vision, a national police scheme to help people who suffer hostility or prejudice because of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity.

Whether the police are matching such good intentions with firm action is an open question. The Independent reveals today that the proportion of reported cases ending in a prosecution has dropped from a quarter to less than one in 10 in the past six years. The fall appears to be due to changes in police practice. While the number of hate crimes recorded by police rose from 44,500 in 2013-14 to an all-time high of 103,379 last year, the proportion sent on to prosecutors fell from 32 per cent to just 11 per cent.

Of course, the police must juggle ever-growing demands – whether the rise in knife crime, the new challenge of cybercrime or the constantly evolving threat of terrorism brought tragically home by the London Bridge killings. Boris Johnson’s promise of an extra 20,000 officers, replacing the exact number cut by Theresa May, will help but their recruitment will take years.