BBC Pushes Post-Brexit Division, Urges Remainers To Promote Grievances

The BBC has joined the campaign to encourage reporting of perceived “hate crimes” allegedly linked to Brexit, which have been used to portray the vote to leave the European Union (EU) as racist.

A message from a producer at BBC Three, the “youth channel” of the UK’s taxpayer funded national broadcaster, has been posted on the “Worrying Signs” Facebook group, which was set up by pro-EU activists campaigning to overturn the Brexit vote. It read:

Hi there, BBC3 are interested in hearing stories and experiences of Brexit Britain. Are you a remain voter who’s part of a strong leave voting community? Have you personally experienced negative affects of Brexit since the Referendum? Did anyone not vote and wish they had now? If you’d like to share your story, please contact Abi on abigail.payet@bbc.co.uk as soon as possible. Thanks!

The Worrying Signs Facebook group has generated some truly sensational headlines. The BBC previously ran: “’Go back home’ — Bitter backlash post EU referendum”. The Independent went with: “Wave of hate crime and racial abuse reported following EU referendum”.

BBC Three ran another recent story titled: “Brexit, Racism, and Southampton’s cancelled Eid celebration”, claiming the Muslim holiday had been cancelled “because of rising fears of hate crime following Brexit”.

Gaging from the recent message, it is likely that the BBC are now in the process of producing a documentary along these lines, pushing the narrative that Brexit has unleashed a wave of “hate crimes” across the nation.

The page is also thought be, at least partially, behind the rise in “hate crimes” reported online.

“We strongly urge you to report any incidents you witness to the police and to report any inflammatory posts on social media so they can be flagged and dealt with”, it urges its 19,000 members, before linking to the police’s “Stop Hate Crime” reporting page.

However, the police have repeatedly explained that the rise in “hate crimes” is due to better reporting online and is consistent with other major national events. 

“We are seeing an increase in reports [emphasis added] of hate crime incidents to True Vision, the police online hate crime reporting site. This is similar to the trends following other major national or international events,” the National Police Chief’s council said in a statement on the 27th of June.

If you’d like to feature in the BBC Three film, do e-mail abigail.payet@bbc.co.uk “as soon as possible”.