Today marks the first anniversary of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act coming into force.

This Act was promoted by Scottish Labour and Co-operative MSP Daniel Johnson and supported by the Scottish Co-operative Party and its members as well as trade unions like USDAW.  The Act was also supported by Scotmid Co-operative and the Co-operative Group.

As the law reaches this milestone it is sad to see that over 1900 crimes under it were reported in its first six months of operation.  These reports need to lead to action by the police and the courts, retail crime and the protection of retail workers needs to be taken seriously.

We are joining with USDAW and with retail co-operatives in calling on retail workers to report attacks and abuse.

We will also ensure that our elected representatives at Holyrood and in local councils across Scotland raise the issue of violence against shop workers with their local police commanders and to ask that the issue is taken seriously.

Nobody should face violence, threats, or abuse at their place of work, across Scotland and across Britain, Co-operative Party elected representatives will stand up to protect retail workers.