Food prices have risen by almost 7 per cent
(Picture: PA)Policing minister Kit Malthouse has told officers not to ignore shoplifters stealing food out of desperation during the cost-of-living crisis.
It follows a warning from the new chief inspector of constabulary Andy Cooke who said rising prices will lead to increasing crime and pose a challenge for policing.
Mr Cooke suggested officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether to prosecute people stealing food.
But Mr Malthouse said it was “absolutely right” that the Government ensures police do not turn a blind eye to shoplifters.
Mr Malthouse told LBC: “I wrote to chief constables just a year or so ago saying they should not be ignoring those seemingly small crimes.”
He added: “We actually think there’s a growing body of evidence that says your poverty doesn’t cause crime, actually, crime and violence cause poverty.
“And where you remove the crime and the violence, very often people and neighbourhoods fly and prosper. That’s not to say there isn’t a cost of living challenge.
“Of course there is. But our job is to make sure we drive down crime notwithstanding that challenge for everybody.”
Inflation shot up to 9 per cent this week and families face spiralling food and energy costs.
Average food and drink prices have risen by almost seven per cent, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
Last month, a typical energy bill jumped from £1,277 to almost £2,000 a year and they are forecast to soar a further 32 per cent when the price cap is revised again in October.
Mr Malthouse branded Mr Cooke’s suggestion that crime will rise due to the crisis “old fashioned”.
He added: “I have a lot of respect for Andy Cooke...but I’m afraid I find it a bit old fashioned thinking.
“We, first of all, believe that the law should be blind and police officers should operate without fear or favour in the prosecution of the law.
“But secondly, it’s not quite right to say that as the economy fluctuates, so does crime.
“We’ve seen economic problems in the past or not, when crime has risen or not. Our job is to get ahead of these kinds of crimes, particularly acquisitive neighbourhood crimes, which are now down very significantly post-pandemic.”
It comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned the “next few months will be tough” for families.
Soaring energy bills pushed the Consumer Prices Index — the headline measure of inflation — to nine per cent in April, the highest level in 40 years.
In a speech at a Confederation of British Industry dinner on Wednesday evening the chancellor said he “cannot pretend” it will be easy to cut the cost of living for families amid a “perfect storm of global supply shocks.”
