As the political party of the co-operative movement, the Co-operative Party have campaigned for action against the rising levels of retail crime across the country. New statistics reveal just how important this campaign is, with shoplifting hitting record highs and 50 offences recorded by police every hour last year. The case for urgent action to tackle retail crime has never been stronger.

Retail co-operatives – such as The Co-op Group and Midcounties Co-op – form a key part of the British retail sector – which has been increasingly impacted by surging levels of violence and theft. Retail workers are routinely harmed and traumatised by incidents perpetrated by repeat and consistent offenders – causing increasing issues with anxiety, depression and PTSD amongst the employee populace. Previous research conducted by the trade union USDAW found that 70% of retail workers have experienced verbal abuse at work, 46% have been threatened by a customer and 18% have been physically assaulted.

The new Labour & Co-operative Government has committed to the introduction of a new standalone offence for assaulting a shopworker, as well as scrapping the £200 threshold which prevents police from investigating most shoplifting. This manifesto commitment will be taken forward by the new Crime & Policing Bill announced at the King’s Speech.

Our General Secretary, Joe Fortune, states “Shopworkers up and down the country face the very real impacts of retail crime every day. For shoplifting to have increased so dramatically shows exactly why we need urgent action from our new Labour government. The Co-operative Party will continue to campaign alongside retail workers for the strongest possible protections to keep them safe at work.”