Pelt shoplifters with fruit in stocks, Labour peer demands
Lord Glasman, the founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour group, said the historic form of punishment would act as a deterrent to the growing shoplifting epidemic.
It comes after official figures showed that shoplifting hit a record high of 530,643 offences reported to police in the year to March, marking a 20pc year-on-year increase.
The number of snatch thefts of mobile phones and bags also reached a 20-year high last year, with 99,000 devices grabbed from people by thieves.
Lord Glasman told GB News: 'It's impossible to live in London without having your mobile phone getting nicked on the street out of your hand. That's palpable.
'I think we've got to think imaginatively about deterrence and punishment, I really do. This is vital.
'I'm quite in favour of public humiliation of these shoplifters, bringing back the stocks, pelting them with rotten fruit. The old ways are the good ways!'
The peer went on to say he felt 'humiliated' when he had his own phone stolen, arguing there must be a form of 'counter-intimidation' for shoplifters and phone thieves.
He added: 'I really think we've got to think about it. There is a will to get policemen back on the beat, to get them on the street but I think we've got to talk about alternatives to prison that are punishments.
'Certainly getting the rotten vegetables and fruit from the supermarket and people having a chance to express their disgust at what they've been through, I don't think that's such a bad idea.'
Crime and Policing Bill
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is hoping to make it easier for police to break into the homes of phone thieves without a warrant if the victim has been able to track down their device.
The changes form part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which cleared the Commons earlier this year and will soon have its second reading in the House of Lords.
Lord Glasman has emerged as a staunch critic of Sir Keir's administration on a number of issues including human rights laws and mass migration.
Earlier this month, he warned that Sir Keir had just six months to save his premiership and that the public would find out in that time whether the Prime Minister 'has got it or not'.
Lord Glasman is viewed as an important voice in Labour and his wider political thinking is believed to have had a significant influence on Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's chief of staff.
In a speech at the Policy Exchange in May, Lord Glasman called on Sir Keir to lead a working-class 'insurrection' if he wanted to face off the threat of Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
He has previously broken with Sir Keir's line on issues including the controversial deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius at a cost of £9bn a year, as well as the appointment of Lord Hermer as Attorney General.
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