“Divisive” and “anti-immigrant” rhetoric by UK politicians during the EU referendum helped to fuel a spike in race hate crimes in the weeks before and after the vote, a UN body has said.

It said prominent political figures had “failed to condemn” racist abuse and created prejudices during the campaign.

The report expressed concerns at the negative portrayal of immigrants in the UK and a rise of racist online abuse.

Some 3,198 hate crimes were reported from 16-30 June – a 42% rise on 2015.

The EU referendum was held on 23 June – when the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Abuse peaked on 25 June – the day after the result was announced – when 289 hate crimes and incidents were reported across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A further 3,001 reports of hate crimes were made to police between 1 and 14 July – equivalent to more than 200 every day.

‘Atmosphere of suspicion’

The report – by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – said it was “seriously concerned” at the sharp increase.

It said the EU referendum campaign had been marked by “divisive, anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric”.

The report added: “The committee remains concerned that despite the recent increase in the reporting of hate crimes, the problem of underreporting persists, and the gap between reported cases and successful prosecution remains significant.

“As a result, a large number of racist hate crimes seem to go unpunished.”

Members also said they remained concerned at the “negative portrayal” of ethnic minority communities, immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in the UK, including coverage by the media.

It said the UK government’s anti-terrorism Prevent strategy had created “an atmosphere of suspicion towards members of Muslim communities”.

It urged the government to review the counter-terrorism measure to ensure it does not “constitute profiling and discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin”.

The report also criticised plans to replace the Human Rights Act of 1998 with a new British Bill of Rights, warning that it could lead to “decreased levels of human rights protection”.