UK lawmaker condemns rise in post-Brexit racism

LONDON

Racists using the Brexit referendum result to carry out attacks are people “who come from the sewers”, a U.K. lawmaker said Wednesday at the site of a Polish man’s murder.

Conservative Party MP Robert Halfon delivered the strongly-worded condemnation during a visit to his electoral district of Harlow, southeastern England, with Poland’s ambassador to the U.K.

Polish national Arkadiusz Jozwik died from head injuries on Monday after being assaulted in the town over the weekend.

Six teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of his murder.

“I believe that the vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU did for noble reasons,” Halfon said on Thursday, according to the Daily Mail.

“I do have a view that a very small minority -- and I stress that these kinds of awful things are done by a minority -- it [the vote for Brexit] is being used by people who come from the sewers who want to exploit division and have their own racist agenda.

“They literally come from the sewers.”

Polish ambassador Arkady Rzegocki, who laid flowers at the spot where Jozwik was assaulted, said he was shocked but thankful for the local support since the attack.

Police across the U.K. have recorded a surge in racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks since the June 23 referendum in which the country decided to leave the European Union by a 52-48 percent margin.