“How can we bring ourselves to do that which will deprive the Court of Chancery of one of its most attractive features?”

W S Gilbert, Iolanthe

Racial and religious hate crime

The Home Office has published statistics for Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2026. Overall, hate crimes in England and Wales increased by 7% in the year up to March 2026, rising to nearly 147,000,

The figures reveal a 13% rise in religious hate crimes recorded by police during the year to March 2026, with 11,419 recorded offences in total. Of those, there was a 15% rise in hate crimes against Muslims and a 10% increase in hate crimes against Jews.

The increase in hate crimes targeting Muslims (from 4,479 to 5,132 offences) showed a particular rise in September of last year, which, said the Home Office, “coincided with a number of protests and incidents of public order”.

Bisdom Gent, Case C-12/25 Continue reading →