Scots set to follow Wales and Northern Ireland and tax plastic bags but England still holds back
England could soon be the only part of the UK where plastic bags are given away free of charge.
Scotland is set to follow Wales and Northern Ireland by forcing shoppers to pay 5p for the bags.
Northern Ireland’s levy will be introduced next year, while Wales implemented its charge last October. It has seen carrier bag use drop by up to 90 per cent in some supermarkets.
Banish the bags: Shoppers in Wales are now charged 5p for carrier bags while Northern Ireland charge the same amount from April next year
After the Daily Mail launched its Banish the Bags campaign four years ago, Marks & Spencer introduced a 5p charge on all food carrier bags, prompting a huge drop in the number given to customers.
Despite this reduction, large retailers in the UK gave out 6.4billion carrier bags last year, up 333million on the year before.
David Cameron might be forced to intervene on the plastic bag row
Voluntary measures imposed on stores in England to cut plastic bag use have failed, leading David Cameron to warn of possible government intervention.
Scotland will start a three-month consultation on a bag tax on Wednesday – but it emerged yesterday that plans for a tax on plastic bags in England have been blocked by the Treasury, despite pressure from the Prime Minister.
A Sunday newspaper reported that Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman wanted a bag tax to be included in this year’s Budget and Queen’s Speech – but the idea was vetoed over fears that the Coalition would be attacked for wilfully increasing the cost of a weekly shop during an economic downturn.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has examined a range of ideas, including an outright ban on plastic bags, as seen in Italy.
Defra had been expected to make an announcement on legislation that would allow for a tax if retailers failed to comply with voluntary guidelines aimed at reducing plastic bag use.
‘It is still a battle to fight,’ a department source said. ‘The Treasury has tried to rule it out but we are still pushing for it.’
However, a Treasury insider insisted their department had not blocked the charge, adding: ‘A lot of things are under consideration all the time.’
Plastic bags are often used for about 20 minutes, but take up to 1,000 years to rot away, littering the landscape and causing devastation to marine animals and birds, which suffer long, painful deaths after ingesting or getting tangled in them.
In September, Mr Cameron issued a warning to supermarkets that the surge in bag use had to stop by this summer.
‘Retailers need to do better,’ he said. ‘I want to see significant falls again. I know that retailers want to do better, too, but if they don’t, I will be asking them to explain why not.’
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