The ‘tide may be turning’ on shoplifting according to our ever-hopeful Prime Minister – despite the fact shoplifting offences have soared by 133 per cent over the past five years. It is hard to know whether we are being gaslit or trolled. Perhaps both.

In a speech to the union of shopworkers yesterday, Starmer said it is ‘disgraceful’ that shop workers have to take abuse from customers, and that shop owners can have their ‘lives and livelihoods ruined by persistent shop theft.’ He announced he was scrapping the rule that thefts under £200 are ‘not properly investigated’ by police.

Somehow the Prime Minister was simultaneously ‘not blind’ to the magnitude of the nation’s shoplifting problem, and wanted to emphasise that overall shop theft was down and the number of people charged up by 17 per cent. Ever a master of doublespeak, Starmer did not disappoint.

The PM seems to have been spurred into action by the public outrage over recent high-profile cases. The sacking of Walker Smith, the Waitrose worker I wrote about a few weeks ago, has been followed by a similar incident: Sean Egan was dismissed after 29 years of service at Morrisons after he attempted to stop a repeat shoplifter – who allegedly spat in his face. Some 200 members of the local community staged a demo........

© The Spectator