On 29th July, I raised the upsurge of retail crime in Suffolk with Home Office ministers in the House of Commons. I also extended an invitation to the minister responsible for policing, Dame Diana Johnson MP, to visit Ipswich to meet with retail workers about the issue, an invitation which has been accepted.
Speaking in the House of Commons, I said:
“Record rates of retail crime and shoplifting are a blight on our high streets, including ours in Ipswich, where too often such instances act as a flashpoint for completely unacceptable levels of violence, threats and abuse directed towards retail workers themselves.
“I very much welcome the government’s commitment to ending the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters and the introduction a standalone offence that will give shop workers the protection they need. Will the minister join me in Ipswich to meet with local retail staff, so she can hear about their experiences and the vital difference these steps will make?”
Alarming figures released in July show that police-recorded incidents of shoplifting in Suffolk had skyrocketed by 36% in the two years to March 2024. Furthermore, there has been a dramatic increase in incidents of abuse and violence against retail workers, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Figures released by USDAW (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) in March show that in 2023, nearly 1 in 5 (18% of) shop workers had been physically assaulted in the workplace- an increase from its pre-pandemic level of 5% in 2019, and 8% in 2022.
The new Labour Government has promised to introduce a standalone offence for attacking a shop worker, to end the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, and hold the police to account on their Retail Crime Action Plan.
My comments followed campaigns from organisations representing retail workers and the wider sector such as the trade union USDAW’s (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) long-running Freedom from Fear campaign, the Co-operative movement’s Stealing with Impunity report, and recommendations from the British Retail Consortium and others.
They also echo the demands that I set out, alongside 17 other Labour and Co-operative candidates, during the General Election campaign in a letter to the then Home Secretary.
My question, and the Minister’s response, can be viewed here, from 14.59.52.
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