Starmer puts shoplifters on notice as offences hit record levels
|
Labour will reverse the Tory ‘Shoplifter's Charter', boost police
numbers and crack down on assaults on retail workers, Keir Starmer
says today [Tuesday], as police-recorded incidents of shoplifting
hits record levels across Britain. It comes as new analysis by
Labour of newly released Home Office statistics finds that a
quarter of a million shoplifters last year got away scot-free. Over
248,000 shoplifting cases were closed without a suspect being
found, or where further...Request free
trial
Labour will reverse the Tory ‘Shoplifter's Charter', boost police numbers and crack down on assaults on retail workers, Keir Starmer says today [Tuesday], as police-recorded incidents of shoplifting hits record levels across Britain. It comes as new analysis by Labour of newly released Home Office statistics finds that a quarter of a million shoplifters last year got away scot-free. Over 248,000 shoplifting cases were closed without a suspect being found, or where further action was considered not in the public interest. As crime blights Britain's high streets under the Tories, and with nine in ten crimes going unsolved, the Labour leader will use a speech to Usdaw's annual conference in Blackpool to put shoplifters “on notice” should Labour win power. Starmer will promise hard-pressed retail workers that his Labour government would reverse the Tory rule that means shoplifting of goods under £200 isn't being investigated. This ‘Shoplifter's Charter', coupled with hollowed-out neighbourhood policing, has left local businesses and retail workers at the mercy of criminals. Shoplifting has soared to record highs while assaults on shop workers have doubled. The Labour leader has made it one of his five missions to take back our streets, including introducing a new Community Policing Guarantee to crack down on shoplifting and antisocial behaviour in Britian's town centres, with a surge in neighbourhood policing. The mission is driven by Starmer's own values and has been informed by his experience as the country's top prosecutor between 2008-13. New figures published last Thursday showed a 37 percent rise to 430,000 shoplifting offences last year – over 1,000 per day. Meanwhile, an Usdaw survey found that almost one in five shopworkers suffered a violent attack last year. Addressing the crisis facing shops and shop workers across Britain, Starmer is expected to say: “Today I am putting shoplifters on notice. You might get away with this under a weak Tory government. “But if Labour takes power, we won't stand by while crime takes over our streets.” Starmer will set out Labour's plan to crack down on shoplifting, protect shopworkers from attacks and take back Britain's town centres: “We'll put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police on the beat, tackling crime on your streets. “We'll scrap the Shoplifter's Charter - the £200 rule that stops the police investigating theft in your workplace. “And we will legislate to make sure assaulting and abusing shopworkers is a standalone criminal offence.” The Labour leader will slam “epidemic levels” of shoplifting and persistent antisocial behaviour under the Tories, which is blighting Britain's town centres and harming local economies: “Nobody in Britain should be in any doubt about the scale of the crime wave on our high streets at the moment. The epidemic levels of shoplifting and the persistent plague of antisocial behaviour. “Some people call this type of crime ‘petty'. But they don't work in your shop. They don't walk in your shoes. Don't see the damage this does to your community.” Starmer will also pay tribute to the Usdaw ‘Freedom from Fear' campaign for helping drag the government into action on shopworker assaults. He is expected to say: “We welcome the Government accepting our position on this. “We've been campaigning on it for a while. But not as long as this union. “Usdaw's Freedom From Fear campaign has set the agenda on this issue for over a decade now. So there is no doubt where the political credit for this consensus belongs. It belongs to you. “This is your victory. And I promise you today, Labour will deliver.” Starmer will reaffirm his commitment to the “biggest levelling-up of workers' rights this country has seen for a generation”, and is expected to say: “I want to be crystal clear why we are offering more rights and protection for working people across the board. “It's about respect and dignity – of course. But good work is not just a moral imperative. This is also an economic argument. “Good employers know this – they have nothing to fear from this new deal. And I can't stress enough how much that is reflected in the conversations I have with business leaders. “Only the other day, a survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that 80 percent of managers, believe that strengthening workers' rights is beneficial for productivity.” And the Labour leader will commit to rejuvenating Britain's high streets as a crucial part of his mission for growth: “An absolutely crucial part of that growth mission is the rejuvenation of our high streets. “I don't think I've been anywhere that doesn't value and want a vibrant high street. When you ask someone how they feel their community is doing economically, nine times out of ten, they will tell you about their high street. “You can't reduce their value merely to profit or the products they sell. So, if we are ambitious about growth in every community, if we want an era of genuine national renewal. Then we must turn around the decline of Britain's high streets.” Ends Notes to editors:
The Shoplifter's Charter
Labour's Community Policing Guarantee Labour's Community Policing Guarantee will put police back in your town centres and neighbourhoods to make streets safe again, with increased patrols and 13,000 more neighbourhood police & PCSOs on the streets.
|