Since the referendum result, racist rhetoric has been abrasively voiced in the UK like a pandemic.

One man says it reminds him of the racism he encountered in the UK back in the seventies.

Masood Sadiq, director at a video production company in Bradford reflects on the racism highlighted today and draws a parallel to the heightened racism encountered by ethnic minorities in the seventies and early eighties.

“I went to a school in Bradford in the seventies. They used to have Paki bashing days at the end of term. Those were dark days.

“The only way to avoid a beating was by not going to school.

“And if we did go to school, then we got battered.

“In our school at Eccleshill Upper, there were about 60 minority kids out of 1200.

“On one occasion, me and my friend were chased by a group of 30 boys after school.

“We managed to scale a 6 foot wall while being pulled and kicked and managed to catch the bus before getting battered.

“I still don't know how we managed to climb the wall and survive.

“Eventually we stood up to the bullies.”

Masood says he is deeply concerned by the vitriol directed towards ethnic minorities in the days following the referendum.

“Racism is on the rise again, but this time it has been aimed more at the Poles and the Czechs.

“But what’s frightening is when I hear Asians sounding like EDL and UKIP.

“And of course there is the rise of the anti-Muslim agenda, whipped up by the tabloid media.

“It is shocking to see the level of racism following Brexit. It seems the racist thinks it has given them licence to say anything at all.

“I used to laugh when my parents used to say ‘what if they kick us out one day?’ “But what’s been happening since last week makes you think.”

Following the referendum, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said, “The campaign was horrible.

“The referendum campaign from all sides was negative.

“And some of the stuff we saw during the campaign was disgusting.

“My worry is that it has legitimised bad behaviour.”