A Tory MP has said that tolerance has been disregarded by some who voted to leave the European Union, and now the UK needs to put “hope over hatred”.
Speaking on a special episode of BBC Question Time, Anna Soubry said the debate around immigration, and the whole referendum, had “not been our country’s greatest hour”.
She added: “I have witnessed language on the streets. You know [such as], ‘get all these immigrants out.’”
The MP for Broxtowe said that the last time she noticed such hostility was when she was a student in the 1970s. “I am worried about the state of our nation,” she added.
“What has happened is that the tolerance that we are rightly proud to have as part and parcel of our fundamental values…has been put aside by too many people.
“We have to put hope over hatred and we have to stop preying on prejudice and fuelling people’s fears."
Since the result of the referendum, multiple allegations of racially motivated crime and harassement have been reported.
In Cambridgeshire, there have been reports of derogatory signs calling Polish people "vermin" posted through letterboxes.
Ms Soubry's statements were made after a member of the audience on Sunday, Chris Abbott, said: “Project fear has failed. The peasants have revolted. After decades of ignoring the working class, how does it feel to be punched in the nose?”
Ms Soubry replied: “That’s the sort of language now that we’ve got to get away from.”
