A surge in shoplifting under the Conservatives has led to shoppers paying a 10p “crime tax” on every basket, businesses have warned, as a Home Office minister vowed an end to the “shameful neglect” of retail crime.
At the Co-op Group and shopworker union Usdaw’s retail crime summit, supermarket bosses detailed how organised gangs are operating with effective immunity, stealing huge amounts of stock to be resold on the black market.
