THREE WAYS WE’LL PUT AN END TO THIS BLIGHT

LIke people across the country, I believe profoundly in the values that bind our communities together: honesty, integrity and the idea that you should abide by the rules and treat others as you’d like to be treated yourself.

It’s why I’ve been so determined to crack down on crimes that are all too often dismissed as low level or just too difficult to tackle – but which damage communities, destroy lives and bleed the life out of local businesses and high streets.

Since the pandemic we’ve seen a rising tide of aggressive shoplifting on our high streets and in our town centres.

This is not a petty, or victimless crime. Shopworkers have faced shocking violence and abuse. In just the last year, retail crime as a whole cost £3.3billion.

And fundamentally, something has gone wrong when people think they can wander into their local shop and just pick up whatever they want without paying; or when they arrive in threatening gangs to loot and empty shelves of goods; or when they attack shopworkers and business owners who are just trying to make a living selling us the things we need.

enough is enough. Communities and businesses need the peace of mind that we will tackle this. So today, we’re intensifying our efforts.

First, we’re going to ensure greater protection for shop workers with a new standalone offence. Anyone who assaults a retail worker will now not only face up to six months in jail, but also being banned from the shop where the assault took place and new tagging requirements if they are a repeat offender.

Second, we’re going to do more to tackle serial shoplifters. We want to force them to wear tags if they are targeting our high streets time and again. The third time they are brought to justice for this unacceptable crime they should be forced to wear a tag as part of any community order. This will track their movements and deter them from committing further offences.

Third, we’re going to do more to pioneer new technology to tackle retail crime. Already, retailers including Boots, the Coop and Sainsbury’s have invested heavily in crime prevention measures such as audio-headsets that allow colleagues to communicate with each other, greater use of body-worn video, tags on packaging and redesigning shop layouts to make it less easy to steal. Now we’re creating a prize for innovators who come forward with new crime prevention systems, particularly targeted at smaller retailers.

The time has come to put an end to this blight on our high streets. This is not just light-fingered crime that causes minimal harm. It puts up prices for customers, puts small shops at risk of going out of business, damages communities by eroding the bonds that bind us together – and shopworkers are getting hurt, which is completely unacceptable.

With these measures, we’ll back business. We’ll tackle this head on. And together, with the police and retailers, we’ll stop the shoplifters in their tracks.