Today's leading stories include calls from the Co-op for further action to prevent attacks against shopworkers, an increase in fraud cases and a comment piece in the Express penned by the Home Secretary.
Attacks on shopworkers
The Daily Mirror carries a short report on calls from the Co-op for urgent action to be taken to tackle the rising number of violent attacks faced by shopworkers. The CEO of the group, Jo Whitfield, was interviewed this morning on BBC Breakfast.
The Mirror reports that data compiled by the Co-op revealed 2,500 incidents of verbal abuse or anti-social behaviour in stores in three months, with 600 violent incidents.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
Shop workers have the right to feel safe at work and for them to experience violence or abuse is totally unacceptable.
That is why we launched a Call for Evidence in April to enable us to learn more about the scale and extent of this issue and inform our response.
Anyone who has experienced these kind of attacks should get in touch as soon as possible and help shape our response.
Fraud increases 12% in a year
The Mail and Mirror report that there is almost 10,000 new cases of fraud every day. Consumer experts Which? found that the figures were far higher than those reported to Action Fraud suggesting that many victims do report crime.
Of all the crime reported to Action Fraud, nearly half fell into four categories – online shopping and auctions, advance fees, computer fixing and fraud involving cheques, plastic cards and online banking.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
Fraud can have a devastating impact on victims and our new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy sets out how we will mobilise the full force of the state against this type of crime.
We are working with industry, law enforcement and regulators to reduce the number of fraud victims and to ensure they get support and advice on practical steps they can take to protect themselves.
Meanwhile the new Economic Crime Strategic Board is working with senior figures from the UK financial sector to tackle this, and the National Economic Crime Centre is coordinating the law enforcement response.
Knife Crime
The Express carries a comment piece from the Home Secretary on the rise in serious violence. The Home Secretary references the plans to allocate £35 million to forces to help set up violence reduction units stating that a similar unit set up in Glasgow has seen a considerable reduction in murders.
More information on the announcement can be found on gov.uk.