Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke and Chair of the House of Commons Women and Equality Select Committee said in response to todays' report of racist abuse in Basingstoke:
"Along with the vast majority of Basingstoke residents I was appalled to hear of the racist abuse suffered by BBC presenter Sima Kotecha in Basingstoke on Monday. I have spoken to Sima to discuss the incident and to categorically condemn it. Racial abuse is a crime and the Police have to act. But as a community we also need to send a clear message as well - racism has no place in our community, we will not tolerate it and to hear of such abuse is sickening. Every one of us has a duty to challenge racism wherever it happens. If anyone suffers racial abuse they have to feel confident in reporting it to the Police, that their report will be taken seriously and acted upon.
"There has been widespread coverage of an increase in reports of race hate crime in the past few days following the Referendum vote. Anyone seeking to incite race hatred for political gain is beneath contempt and has no place in British democracy. I have already been in contact with the local Police to ask whether this report of abuse is in anyway part of wider increase in reports of racist abuse in recent weeks. I shall be examining their response in detail.
“Just two days ago, along with hundreds of people I celebrated Basingstoke’s racial diversity in our annual World Party in Eastrop Park which brings together residents from across many different ethnic backgrounds. It was a celebration of the diversity of our community and a wonderful event.
“But social cohesion is something we have to work on every day of the year. The Basingstoke Multicultural Forum works hard to ensure has representatives from many black and ethnic minority communities living in the Borough have a strong voice. This dreadful event underlines the need for us all to redouble our effort in showing zero tolerance towards racism in all its forms.”