Labour leader vows to crack down on shoplifting, rising abuse

Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has vowed to crackdown on violence against shopworkers if he wins the general election.

Addressing a group of Morrisons employees at the supermarket’s Swindon branch, Sir Starmer reiterated Labour’s promise from its manifesto to introduce a specific offence for assaults on shop workers.

Speaking at one of the supermarket's stores in front of workers, the Labour leader said, "This is such an important issue. We have to crackdown on it."

He said Labour would create new powers to protect those working in retail and shops, saying: "It's not just the shoplifting, it's also the abuse and threats".

Labour’s manifesto last week vowed to create a new specific offense for assaults on store staff to protect them from “threats and violence”, adding the party would “scrap the effective immunity for some shoplifting introduced by the Conservatives”.

“We also need to reverse this idea that anything under £200 that people steal is not going to be actionable," he said.

Conservative leader and prime minister Rishi Sunak proposed to amend the Criminal Justice bill to make assaults on shopworkers a standalone offence. However, the plan was shelved due to elections.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have included proposals cracking down on retail crime in their 2024 general election manifestos. Both the leading parties have pledged to make the assault on shop worker a special offence.