Westminster Life: We are calling time on retail crime

I started this week with a visit to the Co-op store on Thorpe Road as part of Respect for Shop Workers Week.

I’ve met with many local businesses and retail staff since becoming our MP, but I am always shocked by the stories I hear. Listening to Julie and the team at the store talk about the abuse shop workers face, and the increase in shoplifting, it is a reminder we need to do more to make work safe for everyone.

Abuse should not be part of the job.

The visit coincided with new survey results that show 69% of retail staff have experienced verbal abuse and 45% have been threatened by a customer. 70% of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction.

I’ve been campaigning for tougher action against shoplifting for a number of years now. Under the last government we saw cuts to neighbourhood police and the effective decriminalization of shoplifting. It is going to take time to fix this problem, but enough is enough.

I recently held my first business surgery in the city centre, visiting local retailers with Peterborough Positive.

Retail crime and anti-social behaviour affect all parts of the city, but it is acutely felt in the city centre.

Similarly, I’ve met with local haulage representatives and the Home Office to raise concerns about freight crime. We are a hub for haulage and the gang related crime is worrying and dangerous for lorry drivers and support staff.

No-one should go to work feeling unsafe. The last government ignored this leaving communities to fend for themselves.

Retail crime is driven by repeat and prolific offenders, and local organised criminal gangs – it is not petty and it is not victimless.

The annual Respect for Shop workers Week runs from 11-17 November, with Usdaw members raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom From Fear Campaign and talking to the public to promote a message of ‘respect for shop workers’.

I welcome the announcement in the Budget that the new government will legislate to make attacks on a shopworker a standalone offence, and to repeal the law on stolen goods not exceeding £200 – it will make a real difference and send a clear message.

The changes cannot be introduced quickly enough.

But the real difference will come as we start to improve our city centre and neighbourhood centres, rebuilding community policing and tackling antisocial behaviour.

That should be a change we can all support.