Excuse the slight deviation from the principle of the linked article. I am compelled to speak out about one egregious paragraph.

> Meanwhile, in the Essex town of Harlow, a Polish man is murdered in the street by a gang of white youths who apparently heard him speaking his native language.

I spent the first nineteen years of my life in Harlow, living in the area of the murder referenced in the quote above. Most reports suggest the attack happened after a prolonged confrontation[0], not on sight of sound of a Polish voice.

While this act was desperately sad, Harlow remains a home to relatively large Polish and Lithuanian populations. It is, however, also afflicted by high youth unemployment and drug-related crime. The Stow in particular has seen some horrible crimes over the last 10-20 years, including the brutal murder of my childhood friend's aunt, mere feet away from the scene of the 2016 murder[1]. Indeed, violent crime is a real problem[2].

I found it distasteful at the time when sections of the press pounced upon this story in a reckless frenzy of angry, vindictive narrative building in the immediate aftermath of the EU exit referendum vote. I find it to be utterly disgraceful now.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/01/boy-15-charg... [1] http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/anniversary-appeal-killer-mother... [2] http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/harlow-council-leader-jon-clempn...