There has been a fivefold increase in reports of hate crime since the day of the referendum

In a room in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, south London, on Thursday morning, more than 80 people, spilling into the corridor, talk about their experiences since the referendum result.

They are mainly from South America, holding Spanish passports, still members of the European Union, legitimately in the UK. Half a dozen had been expected. Barristers María González-Merello and John Samson hold a free weekly legal advice clinic for Spanish-speaking cleaners who work for government departments and major companies in the city. This was different.

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“People have very little protection,” says Samson, whose parents came to the UK from Germany in the 1930s. “Cuts to legal aid, little trade union support, and the option of going to a tribunal on grounds of discrimination is out of reach because of cost.

“People on low wages who come to us experiencing employment problems, resentment and even hatred are already on the edge. What we see here isn’t worry, anxiety or apprehension, it’s a climate of fear.”

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