Gordon Brown is paid by the people of Britain to make Britain a good place for its people, not to be a saviour of every country in the world. Perhaps somebody ought to tell him, firmly. Blair was told by the WI and a fat lot of notice he took, the previous listening prime minister. A waste of space.

Phil de Buquet, Newport,

So here's the thing: I live in a minuscule flat in the centre of a city that doesn't collect my recycling and I don't own a car because I don't drive. How would I get my recycling to a recycling place? Maybe it's time I bought a car so I can be green!

Lyn, Birmingham,

How handy for Brown. An ideal diversion to distract the public from the consummate catastrope he has allowed the UK finances to become.
The Burma flooding is horrific but first things first. He has to sort out problems here before becoming a "saviour" elswhere

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

Being a good man is not enough. Brown has to become a good PM, which means making Britain a better place to live than when he found it. He should start by enforcing some frugality on publilc services, and lightening the tax burden.

Andrew Piercy, London, England

So there we are. Gordon Brown should be working for Oxfam or UNICEF. He is in the wrong job. The job that he coveted all those years has turned out to be 'Dead Sea Fruit'.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Oh dear - 'he hasn't been a good prime minister but he's a good man.' So was Neville Chamberlain.

Enough said.

Dave, Nottingham,

Alice, Is it a tongue in cheek comment or a partial justification of Brown? Either way it is flat.. Brwon simply CAN NOT see the bigger picture. He just gets tied up in details. He was a lucky below Chancellor and now an inept PM and can't think of anything but TAX & NANNYING as panacea.

Ned, W Yorks,

I don't agree with Alice Miles' basic assessment of the man.

He showed himself personally disagreeable in his ambition to become Prime Minister, while wasting public funds and robbing pension funds mercilessly.

Showing compassion for world poverty is an easy political option for him.

Peter Hinton-Green, Johannesburg, South Africa

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tinasilvee, Naples, USA

You are correct - Brown has his priorities all wrong. To be honest, while what has happened in Burma is tragic, it is not our problem - let the UN sort it out or the EU. God knows they both get enough of our money and other resources. £8 Bn to Africa? It 's a joke - charity begins at home.

Tim Harrison, North Yorkshire,

Most of the non-recyclable rubbish in our bin is actually supermarket packaging, and most of it totally unnecessary. How about a tax on the supermarkets, it is they that are the cause of most of the rubbish. Its time for Gordon Brown to "Listen and Leave"

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

Those of us who watched the latest Rambo picture found out an awful lot about the officially sanctioned rape, torture and murder in Burma. Sly Stallone has done more to try and help Burma by bringing its corrupt regime to public attention than any politican or "intellectual" columnist.

Claire, Henley,

News programmes report horrific price rises in Burma following the typhoon. Including petrol at $10 per gallon. Ie the same price as in Broon's Britain

John pierpoint, London,

Yes, but even though Brown may have *thought* about Burma, he's done NOTHING. He "called for action" over the crisis for the monks in Burma, but the British Prime-Minister actually DID nothing. He wrang his hands and looked anguished for the cameras. Miliband did even less. Utterly hopeless.

Neil McGowan, Brit working in Moscow, Russia

Removing the land-fill fines would also stop local tax rises : there is plenty of land to fill contrary to the Ecofascist lies.

Plastic bags lock up carbon, are non-toxic, non-corrosive and do not degrade thus keeping carbon safely in the Earth for millions of years.

John Bowman, Sarlat, France

The major flaw of this government, both under Blair and more so under Brown is the fact they have forgotten who gives them their mandate. Their job is to look after the interests of the British people, not those of the third world. Once he solves UK issues he can go save the rest of the planet.

Peter, London, England

So how do I "...fling....excess plastic packaging back at the supermarkets"? By dumping it on their premises? Or do I just stop eating?

Interesting that Gordon sought to impose the tax on individual consumers rather than supermarkets themselves. Was this part of his campaign for fairness?

Mark, Berkhamsted,

Alice Miles' thesis that Mr Brown is a good man may or may not be true, but it is irrelevant. Mr Brown is to be judged on his record, and, both as Chancellor and as PM, he has come up far short. He must go.

John Harris, Winchester, UK

Brown got lucky his inflation demon took so long to catch up and the wealth effect made people feel more like helping the lesser fortunate around the world.
Now, every penny he announces he's spending elsewhere will bring the sword of damocles that bit closer

Dominic, Manchester, England

I run a waste management company.Fly tipping is increasing massively due to landfill tax.Recycling causes more truck miles than landfill in the majority of casesand burns more fuels at the processing stage.Revenue from landfill tax is massive.We're all being taken for a ride here.

Nick, Rugeley, UK

in some kantons in switzerland the refuce collectors only take bin bags that are "official" abt £15 for 30 bags.. its called direct taxation..but i can see in the uk this might only work in some areas and would lead to more fly tipping in others unless a equal reduction in the council tax was made.

zugerman, zurich, switzerland

Bin taxes will not work. Please, please get them off the agenda. People here don't use bins now. When they have to pay for them...never.

Z Smith, London,

A bin tax in Glasgow where I used to live would be a disaster as you have very little control over what goes into your bin once in the communal collection area. You can bet your bottom dollar that someones bin will be full every week with someone elses waste. Human nature is a simple thing.

John , Egremont,

Fly-tipping is endemic in my area, litter collection is poor. I often pick up *other* people's rubbish around my house and dispose of it myself. If there is a bin tax, I wonder whether my efforts to clean up other people's litter will be penalised, and whether fly-tipping will increase even further

Ella, London, UK