 THE number of racially and religiously motivated attacks has quadrupled in Merseyside since the London bombings, the Daily Post can reveal. The shocking increase is evidence of a backlash against Muslims in the region following the terrorist atrocity. New figures show more than 200 calls were made to the Merseyside Racial Monitoring Unit helpline in the six weeks following July 7, compared with 48 in the preceding six weeks. The sickening attacks include gangs hurling stones at people and cars and excrement being smeared on people's windows. In one incident, an Indian man was verbally abused and had a brick thrown at him in his own front garden while his 31/2-year-old daughter played next to him. Last night, anti-racism campaigners urged city leaders to wake up to the fact that racism was a real issue on Merseyside and move to tackle the problem head-on. The MRMU helpline had recorded eight attacks in the week before the London bombings. But the number of people being attacked rose to 32 calls in the next week. Latest Merseyside Police figures show a similarly alarming 87% rise to 170 incidents reported in the month from July 7 to August 8, compared with 91 in the same period in 2004. The MRMU helpline log contains shocking examples of abuse against people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds including people of Turkish, Indian and Afro-Caribbean origin. This week saw the formation of a new black-led anti-racism group, following the murder of Anthony Walker. The 73-strong membership of the new Campaign Against Racial Terrorism (CART) has vowed to root out racism and encourage the authorities to promote multi-culturalism in the city's economy. Donna Bernard, spokeswoman for CART, said: "There has always been a race issue in Liverpool right up from slavery times to the modern day, and these figures just illustrate what is going on. "It's time to face up to it, Liverpool people have got to stop being in denial and saying this is a multi-cultural city because it's just not true. "If you walk down the street in certain areas, you won't see a black face. "The city council is very good at capitalising on the idea of the 'world in one city' slogan for their Capital of Culture title, but they aren't facing up to the reality. "There is a real lack of support for victims of race crime." | 
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