Policing minister 'shocked' over brazen shoplifting

Dame Diana Johnson witnessed shoplifting in Hull

Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has told of her shock at the "brazen boldness" of a shoplifter she witnessed in Hull.

Dame Diana told BBC Breakfast she was in Marks & Spencer when "a man came in and took a really large bunch of flowers" before walking out.

The MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham, who said she immediately told a shop assistant what had happened, urged others who saw shoplifting to report it.

It comes after the Home Office announced funding for increased police presence in 500 town centres across the country to deter crime and anti-social behaviour.

Dame Diana said the recent surge in shoplifting was "unacceptable", and insisted the government was "clamping down" on thefts.

As part of its Safer Streets campaign, the government said it planned to assign named local officers to neighbourhoods and increase police ranks by 13,000 by 2029.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said police forces will recruit 3,000 extra neighbourhood officers and PCSOs over the next 12 months in an attempt to end the policing "postcode lottery".

But Dame Diana stressed that retailers also had a role to play by increasing shop security and making sure goods were not left easily accessible to thieves.

Due to increases in assaults against shop workers, the Crime and Policing Bill proposes a new offence of assaulting a shop worker.

The Conservatives criticised Labour's plans and claimed the government was "leaving communities at the mercy of criminal gangs".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "The government likes to talk tough, but the reality is they are releasing criminals in our communities whilst failing to grip the border crisis.

"[The Labour] announcement comes without a single extra pound of new funding whilst they are actually cutting 1,300 officers."

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