The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, and Kate Nicholl, chief executive of UK Hospitality, met with police chiefs, hospitality bosses and transport leaders in Downing Street on Monday to discuss how they can work collaboratively to tackle the issue of spiking. The government has pledged that bar staff will receive extra training to help them prevent spiking incidents, support victims and retain evidence. The aim is for this to be in conjunction with the commitment to make giving someone alcohol or narcotics without them knowing or agreeing a specific criminal offence.
Spiking is already illegal in the UK, but the government has committed to conditionally naming it as a specific criminal offence in the future. Although there is currently no timeframe for when this new legislation will be introduced, MPs first called for this measure more than two years ago. A parliamentary committee found that creating this offence could have a deterrent effect, as well as encouraging victims to come forward. It is part of the government’s broader goal to create safer streets and attain a 50% reduction in violence against women and girls over the next decade.
The meeting brought together Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi, among other industry leaders, who highlighted how they are tackling spiking in their sectors. Chief Constable Jason Hogg spoke about deploying plain clothes officers in the areas to spot predatory behaviour, while British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi discussed the free text-to-report number, 61016, which the public can use to contact the British Transport Police for help in the event of harassment on the train.
Labour party made a manifesto commitment to introduce a new offence for spiking during this summer’s general election. However, there was no detail about doing so in July’s King’s Speech. As the government looks to reduce incidents of spiking, the Prime Minister’s meeting with hospitality, law enforcement, and transport chiefs aims to signal how seriously they want to take this issue of combating spiking, which they describe as central to their mission to “stop women being targeted, whether they are out with friends or simply travelling home”. Up to 10,000 bar staff members are set to receive training over the next few months to help them identify the signs that someone may have been spiked, as well as provide support for victims and assist police in gathering evidence
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