As MPs prepare to examine post-Brexit-vote rise, Yvette Cooper condemns reports of similar spike in US after Trump election

The fallout from the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump should serve as a warning about the dangers of whipping up hatred and prejudice in political campaigns, Yvette Cooper has said, as MPs prepare to examine a spike in hate crime in the UK.

The inquiry is Cooper’s first as the chair of the home affairs select committee and will look into both racially and religiously aggravated offences.

Hate crimes recorded by the police in July 2016 were 41% higher than the previous year, with a peak on 1 July, records show. Several high-profile attacks occurred in the aftermath of the vote to leave the EU, including the vandalising of the Polish community centre in Hammersmith, west London, and the murder of Polish man Arkadiusz Jóźwik in an unprovoked attack.

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The committee’s inquiry will investigate the prevalence of hate crime, the effectiveness of legislation and law enforcement, and the role of social media and other online platforms. Hate crime experts including Nick Lowles, the director of Hope Not Hate, are scheduled to give evidence this week.

MPs have also issued a callout for evidence for a special oral session on Islamophobia as part of the inquiry, to take place in early December. “We have a responsibility to stop this rise of hatred and hate crime,” Cooper said.

“No one should ever find themselves targeted by violence or hatred because of the colour of their skin, their religion, gender, sexuality or disability.”

The Labour MP said there were also worrying indications of rising hate crimes linked to the US election. “The Trump campaign and the reports of hate crime in the US since the election should be a warning to all of us about the dangers of whipping up hatred and prejudice,” she said.

“In a democracy, political disagreement should never provoke violence, hatred or discrimination. Campaigners and political leaders have a responsibility to ensure their rhetoric does not inflame prejudice or become a licence for hate crime.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Trump ran a divisive campaign. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP

Cooper, a former shadow home secretary, said that hate crime, both offline and online, could no longer be seen as separate, adding: “They are intrinsically linked and must be tackled together.” She said freedom of speech should also mean the freedom to speak without fear of intimidation and abuse.

Separately, MPs have established a new all-party parliamentary group to examine the common ground in the debate around Britain’s vote to exit the EU.

The Conservative MP John Penrose and the Labour MP Emma Reynolds, who both pushed for a remain vote, said they wanted to bring together MPs from both sides of the referendum campaign.

The group will consult businesses, trade unions, charities and other organisations, with the aim of reaching a consensus “about what would be the best Brexit, based on pragmatic, rather than ideological, considerations”.