A quarter of a million Scots are employed in retail, almost one in ten people in work.

It’s likely that includes a member of your family, a friend or neighbour. They do a brilliant job each and every day looking after customers, helping them find what they need, keeping shelves stocked, and delivering goods.

That’s why rising levels of abuse and assaults to shop workers hit so hard. The victims of this retail crime wave are friends and family whose safety is threatened and who have an ever-growing fear of being attacked at work. This is despite better legal protections for shopworkers in recent years and record levels of spending on crime prevention by retailers.

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The Scottish Retail Consortium’s (SRC's) most recent survey, published in January, suggests retail crime is at its highest level with soaring rates of abuse and violence directed towards shopworkers. Official data in February showed thefts from shops – often a precursor to abuse – spiralled by 18% last year.

Meanwhile, our latest consumer polling with Opinium in March found one in six Scots had witnessed verbal or........

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