Keir Starmer to call time on ‘disgraceful’ shop theft ‘free-for-all’

Sir Keir Starmer will set out new plans to crack down on retail crime, promising to call time on the shop theft “free-for-all”.

Speaking on Monday, the prime minister will hit out at “disgraceful” attempts to “cheat the system” through high street shoplifting, saying the government has put an extra 3,000 neighbourhood police officers on the streets.

The government has scrapped the effective immunity for thieves stealing goods worth less than £200. Meanwhile, ministers are also attempting to introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker in the Crime and Policing Bill going through Parliament.

But the two Houses of Parliament are currently in a tussle over the final draft of the Bill as the end of the parliamentary session nears.

Sir Keir is expected to say: “Working people – grafters – go to work, do the right thing, keep our high streets thriving and yet too often they are abused or assaulted by people who think they can get away with it and just cheat the system. It’s disgraceful.”

Pointing to previous immunity for thieves stealing goods worth less than £200, he will say: “That was a shoplifters’ charter, and we’ve ended it.

“We’ve toughened up punishment too. We’re giving police stronger powers, making the abuse and assault of retail workers a specific crime and giving you the same protections as emergency workers.”

Almost 80 per cent of shop workers said they experienced verbal abuse, more than half said they were threatened by a customer and 10 per cent said they were assaulted in the latest annual survey by retail trade union Usdaw.

Last year, there were more than 500,000 incidents of shoplifting – down 1 per cent on the previous year, but the drop may reflect a change in how such offences are recorded.

Offences where someone has entered a retail premises, steals, then either uses or threatens violence against staff or other people should be classed as robbery of business, police forces were advised in April last year.

This may account for the steep increase in the number of such robberies recorded, which rose 78 per cent to 26,158 in 2025.

Praising the incoming legislation, Joanne Thomas, Usdaw general secretary, said it delivers “much-needed protection of retail workers’ law”.

“While there has been a welcome small decrease in shoplifting across last year, the fact is retail crime continues to be a significant issue for the sector and particularly staff”, she said.

“Usdaw’s last survey found that this is in no way a victimless crime, with two-thirds of attacks on retail staff being triggered by theft or armed robbery.

“Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers.”

Ministers are working with police and the sector on efforts to combat retail crime, and the government has invested £5m in a specialist policing intelligence unit called Opal that aims to identify the most harmful offenders and disrupt shoplifting gangs.