There are two disappearances shrouded in mystery, which pop into our thoughts every so often. The first is the disappearance of Lord Lucan – the aristocrat whose disappearance over 40 years ago is the subject of many a conspiracy theory. Lucan has entered the realms of mythology.
The second mystery is where did the EHRC disappear to; when some of our leading politicians were making the most outrageous, Islamophobic, Anti-Semitic, xenophobic and racist remarks, I have heard mainstream politicians make in over two decades.
Unlike Lord Lucan, the EHRC made a re-appearance in the last couple of days and have issued a letter asking everyone to tone it all down – too little, too late springs to mind.
Why was no-one charged with an offence for that vile poster? It amounted to inciting racial hatred; which is not an easy offence to prove, but it is also a poster which caused alarm, harassment and distress. Displaying it was at the very least, a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
It is a minor offence but charging those that peddled the poster would have sent a huge message to all those that perpetrated attacks after the Brexit vote; that the vast majority of the British people are good, decent and fair-minded people.
We have laws, which protect our British values of equality, respect for diversity, fairness and the right to live peacefully without harassment. We have all worked hard to ensure that great progress has been made. These are values that we hold dear to our hearts are now embedded deep into our society.
As a nation we have not and will not abandon these values; just because a small number of people (relative to the size of the population), think that they can get away it.
So, the question is why did the EHRC do nothing until now?
By doing nothing, they and the Police gave implied consent to all that happened in the aftermath.
Let us also be clear that the incidents often were more than a bit of name calling. There was some ugly frightening violence.
We need the same Politicians now to repair the damage done.
