Families from across the law-breaking community are feeling the pinch. Burglars, for example, have seen their takings collapse. “It’s a nightmare,” says Barry Knuckles, president of the National Union of Housebreakers. “Now that the entire population is at home 24 hours a day, it’s impossible to burgle anyone. They’re never out.” Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Knuckles urged the Government to provide financial support for his members during these tough times. He called on the Chancellor to cover 80 per cent of the value of all the laptops, jewellery and flatscreen TVs that Britain’s burglars would normally have stolen and sold on. So far, however, he has yet to receive a response. “The political class are completely out of touch with the concerns of decent, hard-working criminals,” he says. But burglars aren’t the only felons struggling to meet the challenges of the coronavirus age. “It’s all very well for people who can work from home, like phishing scammers and identity thieves,” says Dave Fingers, chairman of the Association of British Muggers and Bag-Snatchers. “But how are you supposed to pick someone’s pocket from two metres away? Some of our lads have tried using those little hooked rods you get in fairground hook-a-duck games, or those funny Reacher-grabber tools that old folk use for picking up stuff they’ve dropped on the floor. But it’s hopeless. The Government’s got to think again
_________________ Dave Moira And Dave
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
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