Wednesday briefing: ​Has the sacking of a shop worker highlighted our unease around how crime is tackled? | Waitrose

Good morning. The United States and Iran agreed overnight to a two-week conditional ceasefire that includes the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This followed a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, but the Israeli government said the agreement did not cover Lebanon.

You can read our main report here and our live blog will follow the news throughout the day. My colleague Martin Belam will have more detail on what the pause in hostilities means in tomorrow’s First Edition. Today we look at the scourge of theft in England.

This has become a common sight across Britain: someone shopping in a supermarket without paying, knowing that they are operating in a culture of near-impunity.

Many staff and shoppers are tired of standing. When 17-year Waitrose store employee Walker Smith was alerted that a shoplifter was filling a bag with Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs, he decided to intervene, against his employer’s policy. There was a scuffle over the bag and the Easter eggs fell to the floor before the thief ran towards the exit. Smith paid the price for his decision through his work and later told his story exclusively to the Guardian.

His dismissal sparked a national outcry. I spoke to the reporter Sammy GeçsoylerThe person who broke the news to investigate why the case had become a rallying point for concerns about theft. But first, the headlines.

five big stories

1. Middle East | Donald Trump said he agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Iran, shortly before a deadline when Iran threatened to end its “entire civilisation”. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a statement and said: “Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for a period of two weeks will be possible by coordinating with the Iranian armed forces.”

2. uk news | Millions of graduates will cap interest on student loans at 6% from September as a temporary measure to hedge the risk of rising inflation caused by war in the Middle East.

3. Entertainment | The wireless music festival was canceled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West was banned from entering the UK amid a deepening political row over his previous anti-Semitic statements.

4. Policy | The party said Reform UK would stop issuing visas to people from any country that continues to seek compensation from the UK for its role in the transatlantic trade of enslaved people.

5. world news | Australia’s most decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has not applied for bail and will remain in custody after being charged with war crimes. The former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross recipient is charged with five counts of “war crimes – murder” in relation to crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012.

In depth: ‘This is a long-standing problem in many stores across the country’

Shoplifting is near record levels. According to the Office for National Statistics, 519,381 crimes have been committed in England and Wales by September 2025; This number is well below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025, when a total of 530,643 crimes occurred. recorded.

Industry figures say actual figures are much higher, Detecting 5.5 million incidents last year cost retailers an estimated £400 million. They warn that most crimes are going unrecorded and retail staff are facing a wave of violence and harassment. Sammy, which led to Smith’s decision to intervene, says many people want more to be done about the problem.

“He was shoplifting over and over again. When you see people buying things every day, I got the impression he was fed up with Walker. He wanted to do something. What he did wasn’t that aggressive or confrontational. He took back a purse. There was no physical altercation, he didn’t knock the shoplifter to the ground,” Sammy says. “I think he wanted to address a long-standing problem at his store and many stores across the country.”

Following the incident, Smith said he ripped off a piece of a broken Lindt rabbit and “threw it into some shopping carts rather than pointing it at the thief out of frustration.” He later apologized to his manager for the incident, but this did not save his job.

Cost of intervention

Waitrose has so far resisted public pressure to reinstate Smith. It has strict rules on dealing with shoplifters to protect its own staff, and a company spokesman said reporting the incident did not cover all the facts of the situation.

The company added that the staff member who challenged the shoplifters was hospitalized. “As a responsible employer, we would never want to be in a position to notify families of a tragedy because someone tried to stop the theft. Nothing we sell is worth risking lives.”

If retailers allowed staff to intervene, companies would likely be exposing themselves to significant litigation risk, especially if incidents became physical. Both shoplifters and staff can theoretically sue companies if they are harmed or there are questions about the appropriate use of force.

increase in violence

The incident was handled by politicians. Nigel Farage said in his post on his X account: “We are now a country that prefers criminals to law enforcement”; Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Waitrose had acted “disgracefully” and called on the supermarket to reinstate Smith. Even Keir Starmer’s living expenses czar, Iceland president Richard Walker, got involved and offered Smith a job.

Many in the retail industry are demanding greater protection from the government and say assaulting a retail worker should become a specific crime. It’s part of the government now crime and policing law. In the days before news of the Waitrose incident emerged, Marks & Spencer called on the government and London’s mayor to tackle retail crime, warning it was becoming “more brazen, more organized and more aggressive”. It follows two days of social media-fuelled unrest in Clapham, south-west London.

“In the last week alone, we have seen gangs breaking open lockers and robbing shelves, two men brazenly emptying shelves of steaks and walking out, a large group of teenagers looting a store before attacking a security guard, a colleague being head-butted while trying to de-escalate the situation, and another being hospitalized after ammonia was thrown in his face,” the company’s retail manager said. an open letter.

A broken social contract

Sammy says much of the public shares the industry’s frustration with the response to the story. Much of the reaction argued that Smith should be celebrated rather than dismissed. The firing also left Smith in a complicated personal situation. He has moved into his own home for the first time in 25 years and is worried about becoming homeless because he doesn’t have a job. A fundraiser to help Smith with her bills raised more than £9,000 on Tuesday.

“I think this story shows that there is a lot of public frustration with shoplifting,” says Sammy. “There are, of course, legitimate reasons for retailers to want staff to stand down, such as the risk of injury. But the overwhelming public outcry shows that this is at the forefront of people’s minds. Fairly or unfairly, this feeds the perception that things are not going smoothly in the country.”

There are big unanswered questions about why there has been such a surge in shoplifting and related violence. Some point to poverty, others point to no consequences for theft. But the events point to growing public concern that something has fundamentally changed in Britain’s social contract. The past seemed simpler: Stealing was wrong and he would be punished if caught. This no longer happens on an industrial scale.

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• Chris Curtis, Labor MP for Milton Keynes North wrote a piece argument in favor of construction tram networks To unlock economic efficiency in British cities. Martin

Sport

Football | With the goal scored by Kai Havertz in the 91st minute, Arsenal defeated Sporting 1-0 in the first match of the Champions League quarter-finals.

rugby union | Former England captain Courtney Lawes is returning to the Prem to join Sale at the end of the season, making him eligible for international duty again.

Football | Bay FC forward Keira Barry has been called up to her first England senior squad and has been added to Sarina Wiegman’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland.

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