SHOPLIFITING has increased by 21 per cent in the 12 months to March this year, according to police crime statistics.
Retail union Usdaw said the “worrying” increase reverses a downward trend which had seen shoplifting fall by 11 per cent over the previous decade.
The union said the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and Britain’s cost-of-living crisis was to blame for the rise.
With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Incoming Usdaw general secretary JOANNE THOMAS talks to Ben Chacko about workers’ rights, Labour and how to arrest the decline of the high street


