Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:30 pm on 6 July 2021.
Yes, I certainly do share that view. And isn't it sad that we have to remind people that all our shop workers deserve courtesy and respect? And we certainly saw last year, over the summer particularly, when I was meeting with the supermarkets regularly within my portfolio, that was always top of the agenda, unfortunately, the way that many of their staff were being treated. I worked closely with the police and other ministerial colleagues to make sure that any complaints or any assaults, verbal assaults, were recorded to make sure that the police were aware of the significant problem it unfortunately became.
I mentioned in an answer during First Minister's questions that I am meeting with the supermarkets again next week and the retail sector. I will certainly ask them if it is continuing to be a problem in the way that it was last summer. I appreciate it's always been an issue, but I do think the pandemic, unfortunately, heightened those incidents of, unfortunately, as you say, violence against our retail workers.