Brexit was propelled by prejudice. Why deny it?

There are two theories about racial prejudice. Most people talk as if there is a fixed block of people ‘the racists’: always white and extreme right wing, and usually covered in tattoos. They are ugly to be sure, but they are just a few irreconcilables in the otherwise merrily diverse land of multi-faith, multi-cultural Britain.

The alternative is less cheering. Prejudice can overcome all or most of us in the right circumstances. It just lies there, like a virus waiting to be triggered. We may not know we have it, but we are capable of succumbing in the right circumstances.

The rotten apple theory of racism has taken a battering in 2016. As I have probably written too much on the subject, I will allow others to speak. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, talks of using the full force of the Metropolitan police against the extraordinary rise in racist attacks since the European referendum.