Reform MP Robert Jenrick confronted a man he said had taken a bottle of Dr Pepper from a Greggs shop in Brixton, south London.
The party’s treasury spokesman was filmed following the man, who was wearing a black puffer jacket, and questioning why he believed he could take goods while other customers paid for them.
“The effect of what you’re doing is everyone else’s food and drink just goes up in price – do you think other people can afford that round here?” Mr Jenrick said.
He added: “Everyone’s finding life tough at the moment – you’re nicking stuff, sounds like all the time, and it’s just making everyone’s life more expensive.”
The man told Mr Jenrick to “relax” and insisted “they say yes”. The MP replied: “Oh, they’re happy with it are they?”
Mr Jenrick also joked: “Everyone loves shoplifting don’t they now.”
He then said he would return the bottle to the shop. The man responded “please”, after which Mr Jenrick placed the drink back on a top shelf and told staff: “A bloke had just come in and nicked this.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Jenrick said he was “sick of seeing brazen shoplifting and nothing ever happening”. He blamed the Government’s early-release programme for making the situation worse, saying prisoners were being released early.
“The shoplifting epidemic is forcing the cost of the weekly food shop up by £50 for British families. It’s outrageously unfair,” he said.
“Reform will come down on shoplifters like a ton of bricks so we can lower food prices and give families some relief.”
Shoplifting cases rise in London
The confrontation came as the first 700 offenders were released from prisons across England and Wales under Labour’s new early-release programme. Up to 50,000 offenders a year are expected to be freed early once the scheme is fully in operation.
The Government says it has been forced to release prisoners to create space in overcrowded jails and prevent the justice system from collapsing. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the greatest danger to victims would be prisons running out of cells for dangerous criminals.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the releases represented “just the start” of a process that would put the public at greater risk. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said some offenders could return to terrorise their victims.
Figures from the House of Commons Library showed reported shoplifting offences in England and Wales increased by 133 per cent, from 228,128 in 2020-21 to 530,457 in 2024-25.
Only 19.8 per cent of offences resulted in a charge in 2024-25. The charge rate for the Metropolitan Police was 6.5 per cent.
The Met recorded 93,626 shoplifting cases in 2024-25, up from 31,008 in 2020-21. The force said reported offences fell by 3 per cent between April 2025 and March 2026 compared with the previous year, while its positive outcome rate rose from 8 per cent to 14 per cent.
