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

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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.