Shoplifting in Scotland is up 25% in a year and yet the news has created barely a ripple. People walk into shops, they steal, they pinch, they nick, they leave, the authorities appear to do nothing, or virtually nothing, the problem gets worse, and we look up from our phones, or don’t, and say: what do you want me to do about it, it’s how the world works, isn’t it?

In some ways, yes. The very first person who opened a shop was faced in no time at all with the very first person who wanted to steal from it; the earliest recorded cases of shoplifting are from the 17th century. We also know that shoplifting gets worse when the economy isn’t doing well and under this government, and the last one, the economy isn’t doing well.

But even so, the latest figures are extraordinary. According to the Scottish Government statistics, in the year to September 2024, shoplifting incidents increased from 33,789 to 42,271. Looked at from 2020, the increase is 70%, from 24,861 to 42,271. And that’s just the recorded crime. How much shoplifting isn’t being detected? How many shopkeepers aren’t reporting it? However big the problem really is, it’s clear something big is driving it.

According to conservative critics, it’s the fault of a weak justice system and government cuts to policing. The Scottish Tories’ justice spokesman Liam Kerr said no one would be surprised by the increase in shoplifting because those responsible know that if they’re caught, they’ll often get no more........

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