Shoplifters are amateurs, we need to focus on the real criminals

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I’d rather the police focused their attention on those who perpetrated pandemic related fraud (PA)

The news that cases of shoplifting – a crime of the desperate – number eight million and amount to £1bn in losses has triggered predictable demands from the usual quarters for a more robust response from the police and government.

Yet, a report by the Committee of Public Accounts, released in June, revealed that fraud nearly quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, reaching the stratospheric levels of £21bn for the period 2020-22, well up on the £5.5bn recorded over the two years prior (2018-20).

That increase was during Sunak’s time as chancellor, during which he approved £97bn in pandemic relief schemes.

I’d rather the police focused their attention on those who perpetrated pandemic-related fraud rather than the poor, who often shoplift only to feed themselves and their families.

Shoplifting is the work of desperate amateurs. Serious thieves are much more powerful.

Sasha Simic

London

The Tories could face their worst possible fate

The Independent’s recent article stating that tactical voting could leave the Conservatives with as few seats as 124 at the next election is certainly at the far edge of probabilities. However, given that the Liberal Democrats have, in recent times, had by-election successes in rock-solid Tory seats, why stop there?

An even worse fate could befall the Conservatives. With even more Liberal Democrat gains at their expense in seats not winnable by Labour, they could become the third party in parliament and therefore no longer lead the opposition.

Chris Norris

Calne

Truss is back, and more delusional than before

I loved Tom Peck’s recent piece about Liz Truss and her vision to save the West! To quote a well-known TV ad: “Maybe she should have gone to Specsavers!”

I have said before that she is delusional, and I will say it again. Goodness knows what she sees when she looks in the mirror!

Lisbeth Robertson

Orkney

Social care needs to be sorted out, even if it’s at a cost

Writing as an OAP, I am inclined to think the government should keep the triple lock, as poorer pensioners benefit from it. However, there are many pensioners who are doing well financially. I would like to suggest that these tax-paying pensioners, with an income of, say, over £20,000, should pay some form of national insurance for social care, starting at 3 per cent.

This would help with bed blocking in the NHS, pay carers better and help local councils who carry the burden of social care.

Both parties agree social care needs to be sorted out. They just seem incapable of admitting that it has to be paid for. This would not be difficult to implement and I think would be accepted by tax-paying pensioners as a way forward.

Rosanne Bostock

Oxford

No stone can be left unturned

The heart-wrenching scenes of death and destruction wrought by the earthquake in Morocco and flooding in Libya are incredibly saddening. We mourn the untimely demise of thousands of people. Thousands of hospitals, clinics, healthcare facilities and schools have been reduced to rubble.

Other people will endure unparalleled trauma of loss, grief and mental health ailments. They need food, shelter, blankets, medicines, medical equipment, water, psychological care and clinics urgently. The government must leave no stone unturned in its endeavour to help people cope with this humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London