The number of shoplifting incidents jumped to more than half a million in Labour’s first year in power, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said retail crime spiked by 13 per cent in the 12 months to June, reaching 529,994 recorded offences.
In a further example of rampant crime in Wild West Britain, theft from the person rose by five per cent to 145,860 offences in England and Wales.
It comes as new legislation by the Labour Government, which is currently going through Parliament, will scrap most jail sentences of less than a year.
Critics have said they fear the soft justice masterplan drawn up by Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, will embolden shoplifters and lead to an even greater problem.
The number of sexual offences recorded by police jumped nine per cent to 211,225 offences.
It included a six per cent increase in reported rapes, to 72,804.
The ONS said the rises reflected ‘general increases in police recorded sexual offences over the last decade, largely because of improvements in police recording practices’.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood oversaw a soft justice masterplan in her previous role at the Ministry of Justice, that will see tens of thousands of criminals dodge jail
Racially or religiously-aggravated harassment jumped 11 per cent in the year to just over 10,000 incidents.
The rise is likely to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents triggered by the Gaza-Israel conflict and the July 2024 Southport attack.
Although robbery of personal property was down 12 per cent, there was a sharp rise in the number of commercial premises being robbed.
This category was up a dramatic 55 per cent to 18,534 offences.
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