Top M&S boss issues stark policing demand to Labour after Clapham chaos in remarkable public intervention: 'They need more power!'

Viral footage online showed businesses forced into lock down as masses of yobs descended on Clapham High Street.

Six teenagers have so far been arrested in connection with the incident, which saw nearly 100 Met Police officers deployed to the area.

In a remarkable intervention, high street giant Marks & Spencer called on the Government to crack down on crime, protect retail staff and grant police greater powers in a scathing takedown of Sir Sadiq Khan's London.

The retailer's director Thinus Keeve wrote on the company's website: "Without a Government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor that prioritises effective policing, we are powerless.

"We need a stronger, faster and more consistent police response, using tools that already exist to target repeat offenders and crime hotspots.

"And we need far greater transparency on crime so the true scale and impact is understood and can be used to target resources."

Speaking to GB News this morning, Adam Hawksbee, Head of External Affairs at M&S, spoke to Breakfast hosts Stephen Dixon and Ellie Costello about the disorder and the company's demands.

Mr Hawksbee told GB News: "We've done it for one reason only, and that's for our colleagues.

"Our colleagues who work in store deserve to go into work each day without fear of intimidation or abuse or harassment and at the moment it feels like the levels of that harassment, as we said in our piece, are getting worse.

"We feel like we're doing our bit. We've invested tens of millions in guards, in body-worn cameras, in technology, but there's only so much you can do with security in store."

Stressing that the police need "more resources" and "more tools" to protect Britons from such crimes, he said: "And so what we're calling on is for ministers and mayors across the country, responsible for police forces, to give police backing in terms of resources and tools.

"And to be honest, the police themselves, where we deal with them in stores, actually doing the very best they can with the resources that they have available.

"We were really impressed by the Met's response in the immediate aftermath of the incidents in Clapham that you highlighted, but we think that they're not able to do the full range of activities they'd like to because they don't have the resources and tools, and that's why we've spoken out, because our colleagues really expect us to and want us to."

Asked by Ellie to describe the experiences his colleagues have faced, Mr Hawksbee revealed: "Just in the past week or so, we've had a security guard with ammonia thrown in their face.

"We've had a store manager headbutted, we've had an angle grinder used as a weapon in stores to threaten security guards, so it's really bad."

Highlighting that this has become a "systemic problem" and not just youths running riot on the high street, he concluded: "Clapham is the example that's clearly caught the public eye and that's been on social media, but young people in large groups, that's just one version of one type of the crime that's experienced.

"Often it's organised crime. So it'll be large gangs that are doing this in order to raise money, other times it will be individuals that are under the influence of alcohol or drugs that can be very unpredictable. And that's where some of the violence comes from.

"So it's a really complex and systemic problem, which is why we think it's so important that ministers, mayors, police forces and retailers work together on it."

In a statement on the incident, Sir Sadiq Khan said: "The scenes we saw in Clapham earlier this week were truly unacceptable.

"Not only did they spread fear in their local community, but insulting and intimidating hard-working retail staff and police officers are serious offences. More arrests are likely to follow over the coming days."