Sir Keir Starmer will force police officers to investigate shoplifting offences under £200 as part of a crackdown on crime in the King’s Speech.
A new Crime Bill will reverse a so-called “shoplifters’ charter” introduced in 2014, under which the theft of goods under £200 is considered “low value”, The Telegraph understands.
It will also close loopholes which allow the sale of ninja swords and samurai swords, the type of weapon which was used to kill 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in London earlier this year.
The legislation will also aim to tackle anti-social behaviour by bringing in “respect orders” for repeat offenders, and giving police extra powers in crime-hit neighbourhoods.
And in a bid to tackle violence against women and girls, there will be domestic abuse specialists in every 999 call centre.
The Crime Bill is one of around 35 contained in Sir Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech on Wednesday, setting out his legislative programme for his first year in office.
One of its key measures will be to tackle the recent increase in shoplifting, a key pledge in Labour’s manifesto.
Despite falls in the rates of other crimes, shoplifting rose in 2023 to its highest level since records began in 2003, with more than 400,000 offences recorded by police.
However, charges for shoplifting have fallen by around 16 per cent since 2018.
Labour has blamed the increase on a decision in 2014 by then home secretary Theresa May to introduce a new category of “low-value shoplifting” covering the theft of items worth under £200 in total.
The change was intended to allow the police to deal with these offences by post, speeding up the process and giving the courts more time to focus on other crimes.
It was not meant to apply to repeat offenders or those working as part of an organised gang.
But the British Retail Consortium said that the change led to the police “deprioritising” such offences.
Yvette Cooper, now Home Secretary, said earlier this year that the rule was “encouraging” repeat offenders and organised gangs.
The pledge to bring back anti-social behaviour orders – rebadged as “respect orders” – will be seen as a part of a Blairite approach to the tackling of street crime.
Police will be given powers to use the orders against adults for harassment, intimidating behaviour, drug use, littering and street drinking.
Breaching the orders would be a criminal offence leading to those convicted being issued with community payback orders up to a custodial sentence.
Asbos were introduced by Tony Blair in 1998 but were ditched by Lord Cameron’s coalition government in 2014 for being too complex, and for criminalising young people.
They were replaced by civil injunctions, but these have been used rarely because officers cannot arrest those who breach them.
It is not yet known how long a person could face in jail for breaching a respect order.
Police will also be encouraged to use public space protection orders (PSPOs) to ban repeat offenders from town centres and stamp out public drinking and drug use.
The Bill’s measures on knife crime aim to go further than the Tories, who announced a crackdown on buying and selling machetes and zombie knives earlier this year.
Labour will extend the planned legislation to include ninja and samurai swords.
A ninja sword was used in the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda in 2022. His killer, Prabjeet Veadhesa, bought the blade online using a fake name and collected it from his local post office.
The Bill will also include powers to tackle violence against women by installing domestic abuse specialists in control centres answering 999 calls.
The rules come after Norfolk Constabulary referred itself to the watchdog for not responding to a 999 call from a house where four bodies were later found.
