Government makes over £130m available to tackle violent crime

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, announced today (8 March) that the funding will “enable a programme of work to prevent some of the most serious types of crime and deliver safer communities for the British public”.

The news has been welcomed by the NFRN. National president, Stuart Reddish, said: “While the home secretary says this additional funding is aimed at tackling street crime involving weapons, which we obviously support, it must be recognised that there is a knock-on effect on retailers.

“More needs to be done to protect retailers and their staff. Independent retailers have been and continue to be at the frontline during this pandemic and are having to deal with physical and verbal threats on a near daily basis for simply doing their jobs.

“We will continue to lobby the government to tighten the law so that any form of attack on shop workers is taken more seriously and has more stringent penalties for those who commit such crimes.”

The NFRN is calling on MPs in Westminster to now support the Assaults on Retail Workers (Offences) Bill presented by Alex Norris MP in 2020.