Tradespeople from across the UK, including many kitchen and bathroom installers, have descended on Westminster to take part in a protest, with the aim of bringing more attention to the issue of tool theft and the impact it has on the UK’s tradespeople.
The event – which has been organised by Trades United – has seen tradespeople travelling to Parliament Square in Westminster to hold a peaceful van rally. From 12:00pm – 2:00pm, the tradespeople plan to take part in a ‘go slow’ convoy demonstration, hoping to get the attention of policymakers.
According to the organisation, the goal of the rally is to: “demand stricter enforcement of existing laws and greater accountability for venues that facilitate the resale of stolen tools at car boot sales and markets”.
According to a recent report from Direct Line, tools are stolen from tradespeople every 12 minutes leading to a total of £83m worth of lost business every year.
Tradespeople have outfitted their vans with protest stickers, with slogans such as: “No tools, no work”, “No more stolen gear! Let’s make it clear” and “hole in my van, hole in my heart”.
Speaking exclusively to kbbreview, Trades United founder, Shoaib Awan, said he estimated about 250 vans were currently at the event. He added: “So far it’s going great, and the turnout has been amazing – the rally is about a mile and a half to two miles long. we’re literally outside parliament right now, It’s absolutely crazy.
“I really didn’t anticipate this many people would show up. We’ve all had enough of tool theft over the last five or six years, and the ideal outcome from today would be for the government to finally do something about tool theft – stop it and actually punish these people. They haven’t got enough force to deal with it, but we’re suffering at the back end of it.”
Trades United have also called upon the government to impose a £10,000 fine on car boot sale organisers that permit the resale of stolen tools. The organisation says it believes by reducing the opportunity for tool thieves to sell stolen goods, the frequency of vehicle break-ins with decrease significantly.
Tool theft is the subject of the latest episode of The kbbreview Podcast. Listen now using the player below or or go straight to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.