DAVID BLUNKETT: Accepting lawlessness is a road to disaster

DAVID BLUNKETT: Accepting lawlessness in any form is a road to disaster – that’s why we must get tough with shop thieves

Mr Murphy called for ‘abuse or violence against retail workers’ to be an offence
Such criminal offence already is in Scotland, under the Protection of Workers Bill

Napoleon called Britain ‘a nation of shopkeepers’. He meant it as an insult, but it’s a truism we have long cherished.

Britain’s shopworkers are the backbone of our society. How glad we were, during the pandemic, for the good cheer of staff in corner shops and supermarkets, keeping their doors open so that the rest of us could keep food on the kitchen table.

So it is galling to learn that shops are being targeted so cynically, and often violently, by thieves that many store staff are physically afraid of going to work.

This is completely unacceptable and must be tackled head on.

In The Mail on Sunday last week, Tesco’s chief executive Ken Murphy called for ‘abuse or violence against retail workers’ in England and Wales to be made a specific criminal offence – as it already is in Scotland, under the Protection of Workers Bill.

Tesco ‘s chief executive Ken Murphy said that Tesco provides bodycams for employees in a bid to combat abuse ranging from unpleasantness to physical attack

Last month, Home Secretary Suella Braverman directed police to follow up every reported case of theft – though seemingly oblivious to the fact that the law treats petty crime so lightly

Mr Murphy also said that Tesco provides bodycams for employees in a bid to combat abuse ranging from unpleasantness to physical attack.

But more must be done to tackle the scourge of shoplifting.

Shoplifting epidemic that has turned Britain’s High Street stores into battlefields: Security tags on £2 chocolate bars and staff in daily terror of violent gangs, CLAIRE COHEN investigates, READ MORE

The Government must also urgently address the way that, under law, the theft of goods worth less than £200 is deemed a summary offence, punishable by a fine of just £70. In truth, this is nothing less than a shoplifter’s charter.

Last month, Home Secretary Suella Braverman directed police to follow up every reported case of theft – though seemingly oblivious to the fact that the law treats petty crime so lightly. Indeed, I’m convinced that criminal gangs realise this full well and exploit the legal weakness to the hilt.

What we are witnessing now is very different to the spike in shoplifting and street theft that affected the country about 20 years ago, when I was Home Secretary.

Back then, personal service was the norm in shops, with human beings on checkouts who could readily spot not only the regular shoplifter but those who were chancing their arm. They got to know customers and could distinguish between those simply doing their shopping and those who were up to no good.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, a thoroughly reasonable and collaborative union, had what I still consider to be an excellent idea. Because of the rising level of threat to shop workers, it suggested that special constables should be recruited and trained to spot thieves and discourage them.

With the co-operation of store bosses, these volunteers could pass on their knowledge to shop staff, providing protection while also reducing crime in the local community. Since then, however, the scale of retail theft has increased to a horrific degree, and all too often now involves violence.

What we are witnessing now is very different to the spike in shoplifting and street theft that affected the country about 20 years ago, when I was Home Secretary

In one of Britain’s most deprived London boroughs, Tower Hamlets, it is reported that the commodity stolen most often by shoplifters is Calpol, the over-the-counter medicine for children

The British Retail Consortium says thefts from shops have doubled since 2016, totalling eight million incidents a year. Yet the number of people arrested and charged has plummeted.

Last year, there were just over 21,000 prosecutions – compared with 80,000 in 2012.

No wonder Dame Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis Partnership, says thieves have a ‘licence to shoplift’. These statistics have been linked in part to the cost-of-living crisis and the £870 annual average increase in the family shopping budget over the past three years.

Some of the trends in theft are heartbreaking.

In one of Britain’s most deprived London boroughs, Tower Hamlets, it is reported that the commodity stolen most often by shoplifters is Calpol, the over-the-counter medicine for children. It is not about people swiping sweets, snacks or alcohol – in some cases this is about families crying out for help.

That said, I must be clear: poverty doesn’t excuse criminality. It might make stealing a greater temptation, in some cases it might make people more desperate, but theft is theft.

A very small minority of thieves might have the mental health diagnosis of kleptomania – an addiction to theft – but there are very few people with this disorder, and those who do have it should be separated out from petty criminals, gangs and easily led youngsters egged on by friends.

Data shows that Middlesbrough is in second place nationally, Nottingham is third, Leeds and Cardiff in fourth and fifth. But the local authority area where shoplifting is worst, by a significant margin, is Westminster

A friend tells me that his much-loved local wine shop in Bristol has been forced to close after a series of incidents when thieves repeatedly walked in and stole stock by the crateload. The vintner would ring 999 to report looting, but on one occasion officers took two days to respond… by which time, the thieves had visited twice more

It’s also true that some of Britain’s most deprived towns and cities are high on the list of places where shoplifting is most rife.

Shoplifting is not a criminal act without consequence. Small shops are very much on the economic margin and could easily go out of business.

Britain’s shoplift-to-order epidemic: County lines-style gangs hitting stores to steal products and sell them on are ‘being fuelled by people struggling with food bills and high inflation’, READ MORE

What’s more, the police warned the shop owner against doing anything to intervene, partly because the criminals might be armed but also because, if he laid a hand on them he would be committing an offence himself.

Bigger shops can recoup their losses, but at whose expense?

Well, us shoppers. Inevitably, prices will go up if very serious theft takes its toll. Accepting lawlessness, in whatever form, is a road to disaster. That is why this surge in stealing from shops must be met by a clampdown.

I believe firmly that what is known as the ‘broken windows theory’ on crime really does work.

If the authorities crack down on minor nuisances such as graffiti, vandalism, loitering, petty theft and broken windows, you reduce serious offences.

It is imperative that we stamp out petty crime. But police and politicians also have to adopt a nuanced approach, using a bit of common sense to ensure that people are not caught up unnecessarily in the criminal justice system. This means a co-ordinated effort between police, shops and public: the use of technology such as CCTV, the development of partnership arrangements between the police and retail outlets, and yes, the training of special constables.

Because a partnership is needed to tackle the problem of shop- lifting. It has to be a combined effort to catch those responsible, distinguish serial offenders from the first offender, and to be able to focus action where it’s really needed.

In other words, let’s get tough – but let’s get sensible, proportionate and focused.

While cracking down on serious crime, we must also refuse to tolerate petty theft because we know it leads to worse offences… and ultimately, the gradual disintegration of decency, law and order.

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