A Labour by-election candidate has discussed plans to tackle crimes such as shoplifting with the Shadow Home Secretary.
Sarah Edwards will contest the Tamworth parliamentary seat – which includes areas such as Fazeley, Shenstone and Stonnall – next month following the resignation of Christopher Pincher.
She welcomed Yvette Cooper to discuss figures that showed shoplifting figures in the constituency area were up by 55% for the year ending March 2023.
Labour say they are committed to ensuring more police officers were patrolling shopping areas and provide named officers for workers to contact to prevent shoplifting and attacks on retail staff.
Sarah said:
“The cuts to local police, and the closure of the town centre police station all have an impact on our community.
“It’s one of my priorities to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour by holding the council and the police to account.
“I’ll fight for more visible policing in our town and on our high streets.”
Sarah Edwards
Labour say plans to tackle crime will also help fight those “spreading fear” in shopping areas.
The Shadow Home Secretary said:
“The Conservatives have turned their backs on our town centres and communities are being let down.
“Shoplifting, antisocial behaviour, vandalism and town centre crime have shot up, with local shopworkers facing increasing violence and abuse. This is hollowing out our high streets and undermining local business.
“There are too few consequences for gangs and vandals making the lives of shopworkers a misery and blighting local communities. Labour will put neighbourhood police patrols back in our town centres to crack down on local shoplifting gangs and abuse, so shopworkers don’t have to deal with these attacks alone.”
Yvette Cooper
Candidates currently confirmed for the Tamworth parliamentary by-election are:
- Andrew Cooper – Conservatives
- Ian Cooper – Reform UK
- Sarah Edwards – Labour
- Richard Kingstone – Independent
- Sunny Virk – Lib Dem
The criminal justice system of policing, courts, probation and prisons has been hollowed out in the last 13 years, we are now paying the price. They are an ineffective mess. The desperate efforts to rebuild police forces to their 2010 levels takes no account of population increases. We have fewer police and more prison inmates in dysfunctional prisons, per head of population, than all comparable European countries. Resulting in the current wave of casual lawlessness and increasingly unsafe streets. Time for change.
Want to tackle shoplifting? Tackle poverty. Tackle cost of living.
It’s a symptom.
Chris, can you point me to some examples of where shoplifting has reduced because poverty has reduced? Cheers.
Most shoplifting is done by children, it always has been. There are many reasons why children shoplift, but it is very rarely out of need. Most shoplifting also tends to be in more affluent / less deprived areas. Or at least it was until a couple of years ago. There has been a huge increase in the last couple of years, and the increase is largest in the less affluent / more deprived areas. There has been a huge increase in first time shoplifters (traditionally most shoplifting is done by repeat offenders. Where shoplifters are caught, and they are first time shoplifters, their reason is mostly stealing to eat (themselves or their families). There are loads of articles and research papers on the subject.
The increase in shoplifting is a symptom of the cost of living crisis.
Chris you have contradicted yourself
No I haven’t.
Chris – where is your source of verifiable evidence? Seems like a lot of opinion to me based on Tory Press comment
Sarah – you think that my comments blaming the Tories for the rise in shoplifting are based on Tory press propaganda? I don’t think you’re very sensible. And there are so many academic, and other, studies on shoplifting. Have you heard of google? (other less popular ways of finding information do exist).
For the avoidance of doubt, I am blaming the policy decisions of the Conservative Party during their 13 years in power for the current levels of shoplifting. Specifically the punitive austerity policies and latterly their mishandling of the economy leading to the current cost of living crisis, both of which have pushed millions of families into poverty.