Responding to Yvette Cooper’s speech at Labour Conference, Helen
Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium,
said:
“With over 850 incidents of violence or abuse every single day,
we need action to protect our retail colleagues. We welcome the
Labour Party and the Shadow Home Secretary’s commitment to
introduce a new law to protect retail workers from violence and
abuse. We need a standalone offence to improve the visibility of
the issue, so that police can allocate appropriate resources to
the challenge, and to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
This would also send a clear message that this behaviour will not
be tolerated. Everyone has the right to feel safe at
work.
“At a cost of almost £1 billion a year, we must also address the
scourge of retail theft. has clearly heard the
concerns of the industry, and we welcome her pledge to tackle all
shoplifting.”
-ENDS-
Notes:
- At Labour conference, said:
“We will stand with USDAW, with the Coop, with Tesco, with
our convenience stores, with retailers and shopworkers across
the country, with a new law and tougher sentences for attacks
on our shopworkers because everyone has the right to feel safe
at work.”
- Labour put out a press release today
stating their intention to:
“[…] a new specific offence of assault against
retail workers.”
- Over 90 retailers recently wrote to the Home
Secretary to raise concerns about rising crime rates and
call for a standalone offence to be implemented.
