We must stand against hate in our communities

BRITAIN at its best is a country where diversity is celebrated, where communities look out for one another, where children grow up feeling they belong.

- 

But recent events across Avon and Somerset, and across the country, show how quickly that sense of belonging can be undermined.

Too often, discussions about hate crime are reduced to arguments about offensive comments on social media, but we must not lose focus on when hate crime moves beyond digital spaces into physical attacks that leave lasting trauma on victims and their families.

Recently here in Bristol, a nine-year-old girl was shot with an air-gun and subjected to racist abuse.

Thankfully she will be physically OK, but she and her family have been left fearful and distressed.