国际英语新闻:Hate crimes soar in England, Wales in past year with exacerbation around Brexit referendum

LONDON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of the recorded hate crimes soared by 29 percent over the past year in England and Wales as the EU referendum and Westminster bridge terror attack exacerbated the situation, latest figures released by the Home Office showed Tuesday.

The figures showed that over 80,000 offences were committed in England and Wales over the last 12 months, up from over 62,518 in the previous year. The latest number represented the largest jump since records began in 2011.

Race was deemed to be a motivating factor in nearly 80 percent of recorded hate crime incidents, while sexual orientation contributed 11 percent, religion accountable for 7 percent.

Some hate crimes had more than one motivating factor, the Home Office said.

It also revealed there was a "genuine rise in hate crime around the time of the EU referendum" and after the Westminster Bridge terror attack in March that killed five people.

Provisional police figures show that the number of crimes, which increased after the Westminster Bridge attack, continued to climb until June as the Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Finsbury Park attacks followed.