Back in 2012, sitting Chancellor George Osborne never expected that a proposal to simplify tax treatment of takeaways would become the memorable controversy of his Budget. Osborne proposed to raise VAT on baked goods “specifically sold for consumption whilst still hot”, while giving a pass to those sold for consumption at home.
Now, Greggs is appealing to the goodness of the British people as it faces a new crisis: rampant shoplifting of the brand’s sandwiches. In a much-trailed story, the bakery chain announced that it would be placing sandwiches behind the counter in some outlets, rather than allowing customers to pick up goods directly from refrigerators. It is a trial response to rampant shoplifting.
Yet look behind the headlines, and it becomes clear this isn’t a story about desperate mothers shoplifting to fill lunchboxes – or even a story about Greggs at all.
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Most readers will have a story about how they or a loved one have been robbed in recent years, only to find little support from the police. Last December, this paper reported on the familiar phenomenon of crime victims tracking the location of their valuables using AirTags or apps like Find My iPhone – only to find the police lack the basic resources to reclaim such stolen goods. Whether it’s police apathy or simply a lack of time and manpower, retailers are on the sharp end of the same frustrating experience.
Back in the 1980s, right-wing politicians in America popularised the idea of “broken-window” policing: the theory that every crime, no matter how minor, must be taken seriously in order to prevent broader social decay. “Disorderly conditions and behaviours left untended in a community are signs that nobody cares and lead to fear of crime, more serious crime and urban decay,” wrote academics George Kelling and James Q Wilson.
Critics of “broken-window” policing today like to point out two truisms. Firstly, our prison system is as broken as our crime squads: there’s no point handing out more custodial sentences if there’s nowhere to house more prisoners. Secondly, our police forces are already buckling under the combined pressure to combat cybercrime, pursue ever-changing political priorities, and reform their own scandal-ridden structures.
The British Retail Consortium is supporting a campaign to make a crime of violence or abuse against a shop worker a standalone offence. The new Crime and Policing Bill, which has passed its second reading, will introduce a six-month maximum penalty. The deeper issues, however, are as much about police response as they are custodial sentences.
Not everyone needs to be sent to jail for shoplifting. But whether they steal from Greggs or from Graff Diamonds, thieves should know that the police will be on their scent.
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