Lib Dems Warn of Shoplifting ‘Christmas Crime Wave’ Amid Staff Safety Concerns

A customer shops for milk inside a Sainsbury's supermarket in east London on Feb. 20, 2023. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats have warned of a “Christmas crime wave” of shoplifting, urging the government to take action and provide reassurance to shop staff.

The party’s home affairs spokesperson, Lisa Smart, said on Monday that shoplifters are emboldened by what she described as “the previous Conservative government’s neglect, which has effectively made many crimes go unpunished.”

While shoplifting is illegal in the UK under the Theft Act 1968, some low-level shoplifting cases are not always pursued rigorously. Shoplifting items worth less than £200 is usually dealt with as a summary offense, meaning it can be handled in a magistrates’ court.

Penalties can include fines, community service, or imprisonment, depending on the severity and circumstances of the case.

According to data by the Office of National Statistics, 469,788 shoplifting offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to June. This formed a new 20-year high, up 29 percent from recorded cases in the year to June 2023.

Shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year high when data was released in July, with the latest figures showing a new surge.

Smart urged the government to “get a grip on this shoplifting epidemic” and protect the “hard-working shop staff on the frontline.”

“That must start with ministers making sure that officers will actually have the time and resources to focus on their local neighbourhoods and keep shop workers safe. Until that happens our communities won’t see the proper neighbourhood policing that they deserve,” she said.

‘Impunity’

The Liberal Democrats warned that shop staff have to deal with “thieves acting with impunity,” because they know the police are unlikely to properly investigate.

The party pointed to 670 shoplifting offences that went unsolved in the past year. It said that the year to March was marked by a “staggering” 38 percent rise in offences that went unsolved in the same period five years ago.

More than half of shoplifting offences were closed owing to no suspect having been identified, up from 48.9 percent five years ago, the Liberal Democrats said. In 17.2 percent of cases, a suspect had been charged or summoned, down from 21.2 percent five years ago.

“There have also been worrying reports of shopkeepers having to carry out citizen’s arrests to cope with a rise in shoplifting offences,” the party said.

It called for Labour to “ensure a proper return to community policing where officers have the time and resources they need to focus on keeping their local neighbourhoods safe, including shop workers.”

Government Proposals

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson has acknowledged the record levels of shoplifting across the country.

“This government will not stand by as these crimes devastate our high streets and town centres. That is why we are committed to rebuilding neighbourhood policing, scrapping the £200 limit, which has let thieves steal below the level with impunity, and introducing a new, stand-alone offence of assaulting a retail worker,” she told Parliament in November.

The Crime and Policing Bill, proposed by the government, aims to protect retail workers and make assaults on shopworkers a specific criminal offence.

The legislation would also empower police and councils in England and Wales to ban persistent offenders from town centres. While the proposal was welcomed by retail and police organisations, the Liberal Democrats said it lacked “real action to help our communities and people suffering from anti-social behaviour.”

Party leader Ed Davey has called for additional community police officers to prevent such behaviour, while campaigners have said that such powers were “routinely misused by the police, in particular to criminalise those experiencing homelessness.”

In October, the government allocated extra funding to tackle retail crime. This includes £5 million over three years for the Opal policing unit to target organised gangs and £2 million for the National Business Crime Centre to help police and businesses prevent crime.

An additional £100,000 in 2025–2026 will go to the National Police Chiefs’ Council for crime prevention training.