Yvette Cooper is ending a shoplifting rule – to stuff our overcrowded jails even more than they are now.
The Tories, in government, imposed a £200 threshold on shoplifting investigations – lower-value thefts were not prioritised.
But Cooper said she thinks tackling all thefts would stop the perpetrators from advancing to high-value thefts.
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She said – well, here she is. Take a note of the comment by Saul Staniforth, who made the clip:
Mr Staniforth makes a good point, because I’ve done a little research into the kind of items that have been stolen in this shoplifting boom of the last two years.
It turns out that, while the cost of living has been skyrocketing, the most popular items among shoplifters have been:
- Food and drink – meat and cheese that often cost more, like steak, chicken, and premium cheeses; baby formula, because it is expensive and in high demand; and alcohol – mostly spirits and wines in small bottles that are easy to conceal.
- Toiletries and cosmetics.
- Household and everyday essentials.
Sure, it’s possible that some of these thefts may be for resale – the baby formula, high-end/luxury perfumes, aftershaves, skin care products, and laundry detergents – but who would these be sold to? The answer is people who could not afford them at shop prices.
So, again, we’re looking at crimes that have been made desirable – for the perpetrator – because of the high cost of living.
I’m not saying crime should not be punished. If you steal something from someone else, including a large shop chain, then you are harming them, and that should not be tolerated.
But if people are being pushed into committing crime – or buying from people who are criminals – then it is the root cause of that need that should be addressed.
Labour was the party that said, “Make poverty history.” Yvette Cooper was a part of the government behind that slogan. What happened to that?
And Labour was the party that said it would be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” – that phrases was coined by Tony Blair in the 1990s. Again, Cooper was a part of that agenda.
Poverty, and the high cost of living, are the causes of shoplifting crime. People are doing this because they believe they have no other choice, if they want to survive.
That won’t be solved by slinging them into prison with a horde of hardened crooks who will only advise them on how to be better at committing those crimes.
It will be solved by reducing the cost of living and ending poverty. Why isn’t Yvette Cooper harping on about that?
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Cooper is ending a shoplifting rule – to stuff our overcrowded jails even more
Yvette Cooper is ending a shoplifting rule – to stuff our overcrowded jails even more than they are now.
The Tories, in government, imposed a £200 threshold on shoplifting investigations – lower-value thefts were not prioritised.
But Cooper said she thinks tackling all thefts would stop the perpetrators from advancing to high-value thefts.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
She said – well, here she is. Take a note of the comment by Saul Staniforth, who made the clip:
Mr Staniforth makes a good point, because I’ve done a little research into the kind of items that have been stolen in this shoplifting boom of the last two years.
It turns out that, while the cost of living has been skyrocketing, the most popular items among shoplifters have been:
Sure, it’s possible that some of these thefts may be for resale – the baby formula, high-end/luxury perfumes, aftershaves, skin care products, and laundry detergents – but who would these be sold to? The answer is people who could not afford them at shop prices.
So, again, we’re looking at crimes that have been made desirable – for the perpetrator – because of the high cost of living.
I’m not saying crime should not be punished. If you steal something from someone else, including a large shop chain, then you are harming them, and that should not be tolerated.
But if people are being pushed into committing crime – or buying from people who are criminals – then it is the root cause of that need that should be addressed.
Labour was the party that said, “Make poverty history.” Yvette Cooper was a part of the government behind that slogan. What happened to that?
And Labour was the party that said it would be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” – that phrases was coined by Tony Blair in the 1990s. Again, Cooper was a part of that agenda.
Poverty, and the high cost of living, are the causes of shoplifting crime. People are doing this because they believe they have no other choice, if they want to survive.
That won’t be solved by slinging them into prison with a horde of hardened crooks who will only advise them on how to be better at committing those crimes.
It will be solved by reducing the cost of living and ending poverty. Why isn’t Yvette Cooper harping on about that?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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