DiscoverThe New Statesman: politics and cultureBritain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview
Britain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview

Britain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview

Update: 2025-09-02
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How your snatched iPhone feeds a global criminal supply chain.


Britain’s exports have declined in many areas over the past few years, but there is one category in which trade is booming. The UK has become a leading exporter of stolen goods. 


From iPhones snatched by gangs on the streets of London to luxury cars stolen to order, criminal organisations are shipping vast amounts of items all around the world via Britain’s ports. And the authorities cannot keep up.


Tom Sasse is public policy editor at The Economist, and has been investigating Britain’s stolen goods trade. He joins the New Statesman’s business editor, Will Dunn, to explain how these criminal exports work, why the police are powerless to stop them, and the impact this crime is having - on individuals, on businesses and on the entire British economy.


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Host: Will Dunn

Guest: Tom Sasse

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Britain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview

Britain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview