Portsmouth MP accuses government of "burying their heads in the sand" amid shoplifting spike in city

By Freddie Webb
Published 5th Jan 2024, 09:43 BST
Updated 5th Jan 2024, 11:04 BST
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A Portsmouth politician has vented his anger against the government and accuses them of not taking concerns over shoplifting seriously.

Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South, accused ministers are “burying their heads in the sand” over the issue. He said the current minister for policing, Chris Philp, declined to meet himself and the city’s small businesses and retailers.

"Local businesses and our city’s retailers have raised serious concerns with me about the rising rate of shoplifting which now increasingly seems to be going unpunished, and the impact this is having on their staff and customers,” Mr Morgan said. “The government is not doing nearly enough to tackle this problem which is why I have been lobbying government and wrote to the Minister for Policing asking him to come to Portsmouth to see the issues local retailers are dealing with and discuss solutions with them. But unfortunately, the Minister has declined this offer.”

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NOW READ: Huge spike in Portsmouth shoplifting

Stephen Morgan MP has been campaigning for more protections for shop workers alongside the USDAW union. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 050522-25).Stephen Morgan MP has been campaigning for more protections for shop workers alongside the USDAW union. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 050522-25).
Stephen Morgan MP has been campaigning for more protections for shop workers alongside the USDAW union. Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 050522-25).

The city saw a huge spike in reported shoplifting incidents in 2023. As previously reported in The News, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary saw reported incidents between April and September nearly double compared to 2022. Shoplifting has steadily increased year on year, according to the Co-op, with with a 24 per cent increase in England and Wales between October 2022 and 2023.

Retailers have combined forces with the British Retail Consortium and issued a letter to the government to implement more measures to combat retail crime, harassment and abuse against workers and see stricter punishments passed down on criminals. They are calling for a standalone offence to be introduced for attacking or hurling abuse at retail employees.

Mr Morgan, who has been campaigning alongside Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Worker (USDAW) members, said Labour would add 13,000 more neighbourhood police officers to patrol town centres nationally and create a standalone offence for assaulting workers serving the public. He added the party would also eliminate the £200 threshold for police to investigate and prosecute shop theft.

“Ministers can’t keep burying their heads in the sand on this issue of concern,” he said. “I will therefore continue to work with local retailers and lobby the government to start listening to Portsmouth businesses and treat this issue with the urgency is requires.”