The same here on Airstrip One.

roll out the facial recognition and ID cards so we can catch those dodgy shoplifters costing us £billions in losses each year.

All media outlets pumping out stories of mass shoplifting.

I always thought that any shoplifting losses were tax deductable.

and it seems to be true on .gov.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-man...

Allow to the extent not covered by insurance.

The loss of stock-in-trade or of cash in hand by fire, burglary, theft or the negligence of an employee is, in the ordinary course of events, an allowable deduction.

shoplifting is theft