Plastic bag ban considered

Gordon Brown has said that the government is considering moves to ban plastic bags if voluntary moves are unsuccessful.

 

Writing in the Mail, which is running a campaign to rid the country of the environmentally damaging carriers, the prime minister hailed the example of retailers like Ikea and Marks & Spencer for taking steps to reduce their use.

 

And he said it was time for government, individuals and supermarkets to "accept our own responsibility for ending the environmental damage we are causing".

 

Around 13 billion plastic bags are given out free to UK shoppers every year and take 1,000 years to decay.

 

"I want to make clear that if government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps.

 

"We do not take such steps lightly - but the damage that single-use plastic bags inflict on the environment is such that strong action must be taken.

 

"The important thing is to come up with a scheme that will be of most benefit, most quickly - and ideally, at the same time secure funds for organisations that help protect our environment," Brown said.

 

And he wrote: "My approach is this: if we want others to change, we must make it easier for people to make the right choices. That applies to individual things each of us do, and also what our firms and shops do.

 

"So the government is ready to do what it can to encourage a change in the way we use these bags."

 

Meanwhile, the Conservatives released official figures showing that Whitehall departments and their quangos have bought more than 1.2 million plastic bags branded with their logos and slogans over the last 24 months.

 

Shadow communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles said: "There is growing public concern that plastic bags cause environmental damage and endanger our wildlife.

 

"It is the height of hypocrisy for government ministers to waste taxpayers' money on such vanity purchases."