Shoplifting is now costing Primark more than property taxes following a surge in retail crime.
The company said the amount it was losing as a result of theft was now larger than its £70m business rates bill.
That’s bad, obvs. And a result of insufficient prosecutions no doubt.
Retail chiefs have complained that police are failing to investigate and charge shoplifters, with many cases of theft of goods under £200 often overlooked.
Primark would be badly hit. Is it actually possible to stagger away under £200 of their stock?
I see people trying it on Oxford Street, struggling away with multiple huge bags of clothes.
…police are failing to investigate and charge shoplifters…
In the UK public sector, employees often do the job that they want to do, rather than the job they paid to do. The police are no exception.
There’s a lot of fixing that could be done in 14 years.
What’s the point of nicking stuff from Primark ?
They are almost giving the stuff away as it is.
Theo
But we have a ‘leading authority’ saying the following:
She also had no choice but to find budget savings to pay for the necessary increases in public sector pay in Scotland to ensure that workers, from those in the NHS to teaching and elsewhere, have sufficient rewards to ensure that some people at least still want to undertake these enormously onerous tasks which impose burdens on those undertaking them that most people in the private sector would refuse to endure during the course of their working day.
Surely you aren’t implying that he’s making this shit up?
“ In the UK public sector, employees often do the job that they want to do, rather than the job they paid to do. The police are no exception.”
Indeed.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13778167/Nandos-waitress-attack-restaurant-police.html
“ She wrote: ‘The police were present at the time, I reported it to them and they let him go without taking his details or checking the CCTV. I filed a complaint against the officers and their supervisor got back to me and essentially said “they’re humans and made a mistake”.’”
No prizes for guessing who carried out the assault.
Thin end of the wedge.
Acorns and oaks. When the baddies see that some crimes are not even thought of as crimes anymore, why not see how far the envelope can be pushed? Some folk can be the reconnaissance party given their invulnerability on account of melanin content…
BiW
There’s a lot of fixing that could be done in 14 years.
Easier said than done, when “the levers of power” are essentially made of chocolate, the “long march through the institutions” by the Gramscian termites never ceases, the institutions (eg the police, teachers, the judiciary) have established at least some autonomy from central government, and much of the electorate doesn’t like confrontation and prefers consensus…
I wonder who’s actually doing the shoplifting in Primark? It certainly wouldn’t be a target for professional reefers because there’s hardly any resale value. So it’d have to be steal-for-use. I’d look at some of your enriching ethnic communities.
Black people invented the shoplifting alarm (indirectly).
@ Steve
LOL. An invention the blacks can credibly lay some claim to.
Theo,
That is bullshit excuse-making for the Conservatives who like to talk up being Proper Conservatives while letting the institutions not only remain as they are but in many cases increasing their size, powers and spending.
The state is running a protection racket that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.
So Primark should employ its own security measures and civil recovery methods if it is losing that much stock. The police have more pressing concerns such as burglary, rape and hurtful remarks on facebook.
WB
Of the four reasons I gave, none is bullshit. And Cameronian continuity Blairism is a given, not least because that was what the electorate apparently wanted then. I have worked in the civil service and I have seen politicians repeatedly frustrated, sometimes at every turn. The politicians can with difficulty remove an obstructive civil servant, but the civil service Hydra merely grows another head and then sets elephant traps for that politician. So political governance is tough, very tough….And there are no easy answers to the lack of power of politicians. Cummings tried to remedy it, but failed because of his character flaws and civil service elephant traps.
Primark’s packs of five pairs of white socks are surprisingly good as the end is properly modelled to the shape of the toes on each foot. They are also helpfully embroidered R and L.
Theft is now considered to be alternative shopping and celebrated for adding more diversity to the economic system.
They are also helpfully embroidered R and L.
Useful if you’re having problems keeping track of your feet, I imagine.
In case no-one has heard it, that is reminiscent of the Blonde who said “Oh yes, that must be why my knickers are marked C & A.
BiS
I’m always screwing my feet back on the wrong way round. It is a damned nuisance.
Crossing your legs doesn’t help does it?
So Primark should employ its own security measures and civil recovery methods
That’s a minefield one would enter with reluctance. There was a shop security geezer on trial recently for tackling a member of the enrichment. The big hoisters at Primark are most likely women of a Muslim persuasion. They’ve always been notorious for plundering department stores. Even the females of the Arabian aristocracy. They’ve had minders following them around, paying for the stuff they’re nicking.
Theo,
“Of the four reasons I gave, none is bullshit. And Cameronian continuity Blairism is a given, not least because that was what the electorate apparently wanted then.”
The fptp system leads people towards one of two parties, and in case you hadn’t noticed he didn’t even get a majority. Against Brown.
“I have worked in the civil service and I have seen politicians repeatedly frustrated, sometimes at every turn. The politicians can with difficulty remove an obstructive civil servant, but the civil service Hydra merely grows another head and then sets elephant traps for that politician. ”
Well, you fire them. You just do it. That’s how it works in the private sector. You’re shit, you’re gone. Why can’t the state do this? Tory majority of 80+. They could have passed whatever legislation was necessary.
“So political governance is tough, very tough….And there are no easy answers to the lack of power of politicians.”
With a majority of 80+ you can do as you please.
” Cummings tried to remedy it, but failed because of his character flaws and civil service elephant traps.”
Really? What did he ask Boris to do. For one example?
“ With a majority of 80+ you can do as you please.”
As Starmer is already demonstrating. Just look at the political appointments to senior civil service positions, bypassing all the usual procedures that the Tories would have followed in the unlikely event they tried.
Starmer said he is going to play by the rules, not the rule of law note, and he’s now in a position to write the rules.
Starmer is exactly what the Cons have been waiting for all these years.
Every unbonfired quango, every unrepealed regulation, every hostage to the EU, it’s all been for him.
They fought a masterful 14 year rearguard action against the slow-learning British electorate, and now they’re reaping the rewards.
Theo- I knew, about 2 years into the last Gov’t, that Priti Patel was not even trying to Stop The Boats.
I knew that because they took two years to come up with 85 pages of legislation. And the first 35 pages were nothing to do with Stopping The Boats.
Are you really saying she couldn’t have said “Right! We’re going to have a progress meeting every Friday to ensure this is moving forward!”?
WB
The fptp system leads people towards one of two parties, and in case you hadn’t noticed he didn’t even get a majority. Against Brown.
Taking the votes for Brown and Cameron together, it’s clear that back then the majority of the electorate wanted ‘continuity Blairism’. You and I didn’t want CB, but then we were and are in a minority.
Well, you fire them. You just do it. That’s how it works in the private sector. You’re shit, you’re gone.
If you think that’s how things work in the private sector, you are clueless. To sack anyone for incompetence or on most disciplinary grounds, you need well documented evidence. The process is often time-consuming and costly, involving HR ‘professionals’, employment lawyers and trade unions.
CJN
Are you really saying she couldn’t have said “Right! We’re going to have a progress meeting every Friday to ensure this is moving forward!”?
No. Politicians rarely have any management skills or experience; and Ministers instruct civil servants but they are not line managers. Patel is also not very bright. Sure, she could have held weekly progress meetings; but all civil servants love meetings, and senior civil servants know how to run any progress-chasing taskforce into the sand. If the minister becomes frustrated and irritated, she faces accusations of bullying. A successful minister must be patient, scrupulously polite, focussed, firm and be as articulate as the civil servants – eg Gove at education.
And there we have it. The pathetic excuse for conservatism that was in government but not in power for all that time, sitting around saying “sorry electorate, there’s just nothing we can do about it!”
Theo- I think you’ve proved my point.
Boris was elected to Get Brexit Done and Stop The Boats.
So he delegates Stopping The Boats to someone who is, by your admisison, not very bright.
My suggestion of weekly progress meetings necessarly involves insisting on each meeting showing progress, and being willing to take career-limiting action if progress didn’t happen after a while.
Going in with a mindset that “if they accuse me of bullying than I must back down” won’t get the job done.
Priti could have set clear objectives and then insisted on them being delivered.
“Humprey- where is the provision making it clear that entering the counntry in this way is illegal?”
“Humhrey- where is the provision making it clear that those without ID are detained, and not allowed out on the streets?”
“Humphrey- where is the provision making it clear that an illegal entrant will never be allowed to vote?”
“Humprey- where is the provision making it clear than an illegal entrant will not be allowed to bring family in?”
“Humphrey- where are the provisions making it clear that someone who can’t be deported is free to depart voluntarily to another country, but remains detained till he can do so?”
“Humphrey- where is the provision making it clear that legal action about deportation must be completed a week before the deportation date, so it can’t be derailed by last-minute challenges?”
Boris and Priti are equally guilty of not having the right priorities here.
They had a majority of 80. They could have Stopped The Boats, but they didn’t try.