King’s Speech

Lord Kirkham Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkham (Con)]

My Lords, I approach this debate in the positive spirit of one who wholeheartedly believes in the greatness of this nation. Indeed, global recognition that this is a stellar place to spend your life is vividly illustrated by the demand to live here. Where better to savour world-class sport, opera and the arts, a no-pay health service, policing by consent, jury trial, free speech, an interesting maritime climate, and national treasures from David Attenborough to a Greggs sausage roll? Yet we have to recognise that criminality is steadily chipping away at the foundations of our civilised society.

Decline rarely starts with great crimes. Inevitably, it begins with minor transgressions such as vandalism and fare dodging being tolerated and consequence free. Now we see a growing lack of respect for the law on our own streets daily: routine parking in disabled bays, cyclists riding through red lights, balaclava-clad youths on mopeds snatching mobile phones, and mass marches of hate. The spread of retail crime is increasing too, with the flagrant stripping of goods from retailers’ shelves almost commonplace. We, the consumer, bear the cost in higher prices for food, clothing and other everyday necessities. This is the last thing we need in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

More than 70 years ago, I remember sitting in my South Yorkshire mining village home when a knock on the door announced the arrival of the local policeman, responding to a complaint of me riding my bicycle on the pavement. Supported by my father, he delivered a stern rebuke to me, while my mother sobbed tears of disappointment. It was a fine example of community policing and parenting, which produced a swift and lasting improvement in my behaviour.

I strongly welcome the police reform Bill’s proposal to ensure responsive and accountable local policing, and the action already taken in the Crime and Policing Act to remove the perceived decriminalisation of thefts from shops valued at less than £200 and to make assaults on retail workers a specific offence. While current feedback indicates that violent assaults appear to be reducing perhaps a little bit, it is absolutely vital that we build on any progress made by having local police services that actually respond to calls for assistance from stores. It is equally vital that we also grant retailers more power to help themselves. High-risk stores often employ security guards, but they have no powers to do more than act as a visible deterrent. Clearly, security guards urgently need the additional powers to restrain and detain offenders, but such empowerment will be useless without the promised investment in community policing, together with a quicker-acting justice system and meaningful punishments.

We hear a lot about apprenticeships, and I strongly agree, but retail stores are providing one that we do not need: an apprenticeship in crime that escalates from self-scan cheats and grab-and-run artists to the organised wholesale grand theft of high-value items from stores.

The dismantling of our values is dangerous, and it impacts all of us. It is only one small step from a low-level offence to serious crime. While I am not so naive as to suppose we can revert to the days of PC Dixon of Dock Green, the friendly bobby on the corner 70 years ago, I strongly believe that strengthened community policing and the overdue crackdown on anti-social behaviour is absolutely key to maintaining our status as a great and safe nation of liberty, fairness and order, in which people are eager and proud to live.