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Pickles wants action on hate graffiti

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Communities secretary Eric Pickles has urged councils across the country to do more to tackle antisemitic graffiti.

Mr Pickles has written to every local authority to highlight its responsibilities under anti-social behaviour laws for quickly removing and reporting "physical signs of hatred on any property".

In the letter, sent jointly with Community Security Trust chief executive David Delew, Mr Pickles stated:

"A particularly pernicious expression of antisemitism and other forms of hatred is the daubing of slogans or symbols, via graffiti or the fixing of stickers and posters, onto both public and private property.

"In these instances, a visible display of hate can increase tensions between communities, as well as providing a physical reminder to the victim of the abuse they have suffered."

The warning was a consequence of the surge in antisemitism seen in July and August during the Gaza conflict. CST recorded 302 incidents of Jew-hatred in July - almost the same number as in the first six months of this year combined.

Mr Pickles told the Commons on Monday that the letter was part of a wider operation to tackle hatred.

"There is no place in British society for antisemitism, and we must stand united to resist all the ways it manifests," he said.

Antisemitic graffiti had been daubed on public property, private homes, and in Jewish cemeteries.

A spokesman for CST said the move was a sign of the government's determination "to reduce antisemitic hate crime and to see perpetrators identified and prosecuted."

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