Gail Downey: UK Correspondent on the new criminal offence for people smuggling, and retail crime on the rise

People smuggling is seeing a crackdown in the UK after roughly 37,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year. 

The new criminal offence will see tough consequences for individuals involved in any part of the journey, including preparation. 

In retail news, retailers are saying shoplifting has become out of control in Britain. 

UK Correspondent Gail Downey said, "thieves have become so bold they even clear whole shelves in full view of customers and staff, and you might see some of these videos on social media of people doing that," according to the British Retail Consortium. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gale Down is our UK correspondent, Gale good evening to you.
Hello there, Rian, You've got a new criminal offense coming
and this is to try in top a stop rather
people smuggling across the English Channel. What's going? What's tell
us about it?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, it is, as you say, it's part of a
crackdown on people smugglers. Around thirty seven thousand people cross
the channel in small boats last year. That's an increase
of twenty five percent on the previous year. And of
course the English Channel is a major, major shipping lane,
so the people who are doing this are actually putting
themselves in danger and investigators described the whole journey as

(00:40):
terrifying and dangerous, and so they often found themselves dealing
with traumatized victims in a floating crime scene. And of
course it's the people smugglers that this government has vowed
to actually deal with, not the people who are the
people who get on the boats. And part of the
crackdown also involves any want intimidating other passengers to take

(01:02):
part in the journey or being involved in the preparation
of smuggling that could mean buying boat parts. They're going
to face long sentences too.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's something that is not an issue that's going to
go away quickly, so hopefully they can go some way
to at least reducing the problem. Speaking of problems, retailers say,
shoplifting in Britain is completely out of control. You've got violence,
you've got abuse against shop workers on the rise. I mean,
we have similar issues going on here, but I don't
think at the same level you've got going on there.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
No, the British Retail Consortium, which represents more than two
hundred major retailers, say that thieves have become so bold
they even clear whole shells in full view of customers
and staff, and you might see some of these videos
on social media of people doing that, but of course
staff are told not to get involved in it, and

(01:56):
that includes security guards as well because they're at risk
of being hurt. So the published figures by the British
Retail Consortium shows a rise in thefts, with more than
twenty million incidents in twelve months to September last year,
which is four million up on the previous year. Not
only that, but there's been a fifty percent rise in

(02:17):
violence and abuse against shop workers, with more than two
thousand such incidents recorded on average per day, and some
shop workers say they're frightened to.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Go to work, and that's not a very good situation
to be in at all. The sixty icon Marry and
Faithful has died at the age of seventy eight. Gale Yes.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
At one time she was probably best known for being
the girlfriend of the Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger.
She was said to be the inspiration behind their hits
Let's Spend the Night Together, Wild Horses and you Can't
Always Get what You Want. When the band wrote as
Tears Go By, they gave her the song saying, oh,
it's just a piece of tripe, but she turned into

(02:59):
a hit which they later recorded themselves. You know, life
in the sixties was rock and roll and drugs, and
despite her talent as a singer, she did face personal
struggles and at one time she lived on the streets
and became a heroin addict. But she made a comeback,
made twenty one albums, was a guest on stage at Glastonbury.

(03:21):
Her final performance was in Paris in twenty sixteen, proving
she was much more than a rock star's girlfriend, but
an artist in her own right.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Incredible life incredible story has passed away at the age
of seventy eight. Gale, thank you very much, lovely to
have you on the show.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Ran Gail Downey are UK correspondent. For more from Hither
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