The leader of the right-wing has called for a crackdown on cash-only barber shops, which brand themselves as Richard Tice claimed, offering no evidence, that such shops were fronts to launder proceeds from the drug trade in a series of posts on social media platform X. “Police & Local Authorities do nothing: unaware & incompetent or aware & corrupt..
. or just scared”, Tice wrote in a post late on Wednesday. In an , responding to a complaint about “Turkish” barbers bringing “down the tone of an area terribly”, Tice said that they were “opening all over [the] country”, adding “many fear these are fronts for money laundering drug profits”.
Turkish barber shops have become a common sight in towns and cities across the UK in recent years. Their popularity stems from the reputed skill of Turkish barbers in many complicated hairstyles, such as skin fades. A traditional Turkish barber also provides extra services, such as a head massage and singeing - the use of a naked flame to burn off excess ear hair.
But critics of the apparent surge in “Turkish” barbers say that the newer offerings are less interested in providing such services and are instead focused on tax dodging or money laundering, an accusation that remains unproven. Reporting on Tice’s comments, The Telegraph spoke to Caroline Larissey, the chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, who did not name Turkish barbers specifically, but said some in her industry were struggling again.
