iStock.com/Alamy
Analysis // Tool Theſt
Matt Vickers // Shadow Minister of Crime, Police and Fire
What is it you’re out here to do today? Are you supportive of the rally? I’m hugely supportive! My dad’s a builder, my brother’s a builder, so I get what it’s like to go out to the van, and find everything’s gone. The cost of the damages, the cost to replace the tools, the day’s work that they lose…it’s got a huge impact. And those people – the ones running the small
businesses – they’re the ones that our economy is built on. Literally.
Have members of your own family been impacted by tool theft? Several times. In Saddiq Khan’s London, tool theft is up 60%. I do think there’s also a problem with regionalisation. There’s areas of the country where it seems worse than others, particularly here in London. There was a bill that went through just before the election, to make the people who produce the tools up their game by putting markers on them. But it’s just been sat on someone’s desk for six months. Get on with it! We need to make sure people can’t turn up in broad daylight at a car boot sale and sell stuff they’ve stolen from a tradesman whose grafted to earn that.
Do you think the general public outside of the trade have an idea of the scale that this problem has? I don’t think they do. I just feel like it’s misunderstood, and not a big enough priority in government. But these guys [at the rally] are doing a great job of raising awareness, and trying to get Westminster to hear what they’ve got to say.
Do you think the police are doing enough for this as well? There’s always the debate about what the police are doing. I do think they could be doing more on this, and have it be seen as the priority that it is. It’s not “just” a theft, it’s a theft that means people can’t get out there and do their jobs. I think theft in general is a big issue as well, but this has real consequences for these guys, and it’s huge. The police need to recognise that as a priority and get on top of that.
Amanda Martin // Labour MP for Portsmouth North
How important is the issue of tool theft for the government? The shadow minister seemed to think it wasn’t a big priority for Labour at all. The previous government, to be fair to them, did put through a law around marking up tools, making them more difficult to sell, but
unfortunately they’re still being sold at car boot sales and pubs. So that’s not the whole answer. I think
one of the ways we’re helping is by raising awareness for the real human impact of tool theft. It’s not just about nicking someone’s toolbox or a drill. It’s about their livelihoods and being able to do their job. As a government, we absolutely recognise the value of tradespeople. If we want to build the 1.5 million houses and get this country moving and get our economy growing, we are reliant on these people here today.
If you’re trying to get more people into this sector, do you think issues like tool theft might make people hesitant? My worry is, issues like this put people off working in the trade. But actually what we need to do is show that for every single one of those tools stolen, there’s a real impact, and we need to make people think twice about buying stolen tools. Also, I don’t think tool theft is logged the same in every area.
I’ve heard sometimes the crime itself is listed as theft, and sometimes it’s something like burglary… Absolutely – and sometimes it’s even logged as organised crime! We need them all to be listed the same everywhere, or else we won’t get to see the real size of this problem.
So, to make it clear, would you say tool theft is a priority for the labour government? Absolutely. It’s a priority of mine, and I’m a Labour MP! We’ve got a survey together that we’re hoping people will sign, whether you’re in the trade or just a member of the public. I’m encouraging people to go to their own MPs to lobby about this across the country.
March 2025
kbbreview
21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
