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Scrubbing out Nazi graffiti costs British taxpayers £50,000 says Taxpayers Alliance

Neo-Nazi symbols and racist slogans have been removed from streets and buildings in 80 separate council districts since 2018

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Neo-Nazi symbols including swastikas and racist slogans have been scrubbed from streets and buildings in 80 separate council districts since 2018 at a cost of more than £50,000, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

The survey, conducted by filing Freedom of Information Act requests, lists 755 examples of extremist right-wing graffiti, and states that the cost of removing it came to more than £51,000.

The true total is likely to be higher because only 115 councils responded to the information requests, and a further 153 said they did not keep relevant records.

Neo-Nazi graffiti was found across the country, the survey says. The council with the highest number of incidents was East Cambridgeshire, with a total of 101, followed by Woking in Surrey (49), Rotherham (47), Bristol (45), Glasgow (43) and Sunderland (37).

Bus shelters appear to be popular locations for the graffiti and in some areas swastikas and similar symbols have been found close to primary schools. There is no evidence that areas with large Jewish populations have been singled out.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance campaigns manager Elliot Keck said: “Taxpayers are sick of the neo-Nazi thugs that have vandalised our streets and cost residents tens of thousand of pounds.”

A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust (CST) added: “Antisemitic, neo-Nazi graffiti harms the whole of society with its hateful, divisive message. This research shows that there is even a financial cost to the damage that is done.”

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