Locking up shoplifters won’t solve Britain’s crime problem

The Conservative party has had an idea. It’s not a very good idea, but it’s an idea and those are rare for the Tories. The idea is to start banging up repeat shoplifters and other low-level offenders.

Transport minister Richard Holden has complained that ‘the police haven’t concentrated enough on some of these offences’ even though ‘they really do have a huge impact on our high streets and shops right across the country’. Without invoking the term, the minister was calling for an amped up version of broken windows policing, stamping out petty crimes that undermine public confidence and encourage more serious offending. So far, so 1980s right-wing criminology. 

The past year has seen 339,206 instances of shoplifting, though the British Retail Consortium claims the figure is closer to eight million and estimates the annual cost at £953 million. So, while it’s a low-level crime it is prevalent and causes significant economic harm.