OPPOSITION councillors in Barnet have urged colleagues to make sure racism does not boil over in the borough following Brexit.

In a motion being submitted for the next full council meeting on July 26, Barnet's Labour councillors said “community cohesion” should be everyone’s goal in the wake of the EU referendum result.

The motion asks all people and organisations in the borough to work together to combat racially-motivated violence and hate speech in the borough.

Announcing the proposal, group leader Barry Rawlings said: “Barnet is a place of many diverse, settled communities, and we should all be outraged about the recent reported increase in verbal attacks and hate crimes against migrant communities across the country.

“We should all work with the police, the council and the voluntary sector to maintain community cohesion.

“We wish to reassure all EU nationals living in Barnet that they are welcome members of our community, and we will be doing everything we can to ensure that they can remain here following the Brexit result.

“If you are the victim of any hate crime or witness any hate crime please do report it to the police.”

Since 52 per cent of the UK voted to leave the European Union, over 100 incidents of racial hate crime have been reported to the police around the country.

Although over 62 per cent of Barnet voters wanted to remain in the EU, councillors still discussed concerns of hate crime at a Policy and Resources committee meeting on Tuesday, committing the council to opposing racism in the community.

In a statement made on Thursday, council leader Richard Cornelius said there had been no instances of racial hate crimes in Barnet since the EU referendum vote.

He added the council is working with the police to maintain a “zero-tolerance” approach to racism and urged people to report any incidents of racially-motivated hate speech or violence.

Cllr Cornelius said: “Where the referendum debate has led to divisions, it is important that these are healed; that everyone’s concerns are listened to; and that as a country we find a way forward together.

“We cannot be complacent. One incident of hate crime would be one too many.

"There should be no doubt that Barnet will remain an open, tolerant and welcoming borough.”