“Labour is delivering respect for retail staff” says Jo Platt MP in support of the Usdaw Freedom from Fear campaign.
Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed the support of Jo Platt, Labour MP for Leigh and Atherton, for measures to tackle retail crime and the abuse, threats and violence shop workers often face as a result. Today, Jo Platt met Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis and shop workers in Parliament to hear first-hand experiences of life on the frontline of retail.
Jo Platt MP said: “Retail workers are at the heart of our communities delivering essential services, they are key workers who deserve our respect and the protection of the law. Under the Tories, retail crime was rampant and doubled since the pandemic.
“After years of Conservative failure, I am pleased to support our Labour Government’s measures to tackle this growing problem, and I am proud to have sat on the Bill Committee scrutinising the Bill line by line and making sure the voices of the people in Leigh and Atherton were represented.
“The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce Criminal Behaviour Orders to tackle persistent offenders and end the Tories’ perverse £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which essentially gave a green light to theft. The Bill also creates a new standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker and I want to see that extended to delivery drivers as well.
“I stand with the thousands of retail workers in Leigh and Atherton who do not go to work to be abused, threatened and assaulted. Labour’s investment in additional police to patrols our streets and projects to tackle the organised crime that is so often behind retail crime, will make a real difference and I fully support Usdaw’s long-running and highly successful Freedom from Fear campaign.”