I’m a grocery store safety guard – Starmer should do 1 factor to cease UK shoplifting | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A grocery store safety guard has mentioned the Prime Minister must “get tougher” to fight shoplifting within the UK. Kane Manning, 28, is stationed at a national-brand grocery store in Brighton, which he didn’t want to identify. He has labored as a guard for two-and-a-half years, and mentioned that incidents of theft have risen by between 70% and 80% throughout that point. Mr Manning added that present recommendation from the agency he works for restricts him to approaching and “challenging” suspected thieves, which he has carried out as much as 100 instances.

Mr Manning mentioned: “In my opinion, the justice for shoplifters isn’t good. I take it personally.” He informed Sir Keir Starmer: “Get tougher with justice on shoplifters, so they think twice about doing it again, because I keep seeing reoffenders all the time, and fund more in police, so they patrol more in risky areas where shoplifting has happened.”

People can not afford meals, and so flip to stealing, Mr Manning mentioned, including that he sees plenty of addicts steal to be able to fund their drug behavior. Homeless folks additionally elevate, the safety employee mentioned.

“Basically, I was told to act as a deterrent and challenge them. When you spot a shoplifter, you approach, you challenge them, you say, ‘You have not paid for your stuff.’

“You need to de-escalate the state of affairs.”

Challenging an individual is not done physically, Mr Manning noted, as he is instructed to keep his distance and “allow them to know” what they’re doing. But he would like to go further.

“I’d prefer to get extra concerned, 100%,” he said. “When I strategy them, I attempt to cease them from leaving, not bodily.”

“Look, they’ve dedicated a criminal offense, so I’m going to strive my finest to get the stuff again, and it really works. When you problem them, while you strategy them, they drop the baggage on the ground.”

Police only attend around 20% of incidents, Mr Manning claimed.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed shoplifting offences fell slightly last year, down from 516,611 in 2024 to 509,566 in 2025.

But a think tank highlighted figures showing 67% of offenders go on to commit another offence within 12 months, up from 55% before the pandemic.

On Monday, Sir Keir mentioned in a speech to the Usdaw shopworkers’ union: “It’s disgraceful that people just working in their shop have to take abuse from customers.

“It’s disgraceful that people feel sick to the stomach thinking about how they’re going to get through the day, and it’s disgraceful that people can have their lives and livelihoods ruined by persistent shop theft.”

He said the Government has put an extra 3,000 neighbourhood police officers on the streets and scrapped the “ridiculous” rule which left theft of goods worth less than £200 “not properly investigated” by police.

“That was a shoplifter’s charter, and we’ve ended it and not before time,” he said.

“We’ve toughened up punishment, too. We’re giving police stronger powers, making the abuse and assault of retail workers a specific crime and giving you the same protections as emergency workers.”