Unfortunately corporate greed influences retailers/manufacturers immensely, also they view plastic bags carrying their logos as a method of advertising & marketing, they fear banning/charging for them may influence their customers go shop elsewhere.

Gov't is lax on forcing retailers/manufacturers to do more as they fear a loss of revenue, party support & donations from industry, therefore the onus is put on the public to recycle, pay more taxes etc etc whilst retailers/manufacturers get away with it!

Plastics can be made from eco-friendly alternatives such as hemp instead of petrochemicals. Biodegradable bags, liners & packaging are available so retailers/manufacturers don't really have any excuse other than a selfish reluctance to see a dent in their astronomical profits...thats capitalism for you!

Industry controls & bribes Governments, not the other way round, if this were not the case the problems of environmental & ethical issues would have been solved long since.

Sarah Hosking, Leigh , UK

I'm assuming that if they ban plastic bags, they have to replace them with something else?

If your doing a weeks worth of shopping, how are you to get it home if you dont have any bags??

Arthur, Newcastle,

Gordon Brown has destoyed the economy, destroyed the housing market and thinks plastic bags are priority. If Gordon Brown shut up the world would be a better place and percieved threat of global warming would not exist. SHUT UP GORDON!!!!

steve tea, manchster, cheshire

Isn't it convenient that supermarkets can now charge you for something which used to be free and make themselves look Green?

Will, London,

When we have a government with greater credibility and less corruption I'll take notice of what they say.

Martin, Poole, Dorset, UK

The "single biggest source of waste" in this country is the government. Suggest, we remove it.

Chris, London,

Brown breaks silence and addresses nation!

John Camus, Colchester,

Just to remind the good people of Ireland that your country is using more plastic bags than when you started your bag tax.
Also I watched people of Dublin using paper bags in the rain, trying to keep the shopping from falling out onto the road.
The plastic bag is not the enemy it is our friend. It can be reused for many diffrent uses. It can be recycled. ( Not bio dergradable bags) It can be used as energy if collected and burnt. Paper is not the answer because it takes huge amounts of energy to nmake and deliver. Dergadble bag give co2 gas. The best way is reduce, recycle and reuse.

Lawrence, edgware, Uk

Hopefully the compulsion, should it happen, will extend to the purchased bag being plain - that is without any form of advertising logo etc - if my cash is buying the bag , no doubt with a margin of profit in favour of the retailer, I would seriously object to undertaking free advertising and promotion on behalf of the retailer.

As the retailers have been quite happy since Adam was a lad to give out free bags presumably the income generated by the now sale of bags could be ring fenced and the income derived allocated to pre identified suited and approriate cause - preferably in the locality, in which case I would not then be sounding off re the advertising!

That said, yet again, we have a PM sounding off on an easy target - just get a grip and address the real issues.

Chris Dodsley, Nottingham, UK

The Prime Minister was going to announce this brilliant woirld-saving initiative around the time his government lost, er, 25 million records on two CDs. This shows how out of touch with reality he is. If he was serious about the environment and not obsessed on making himself hated, he would ban the third runway at Heathrow, stop all road construction and divert funds into capital expenditure on the railways and Sustrans. In a country with major, major environmental, economic and social problems, a number of which stem from his government's policies, this idea reminds me of the man rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Jon C, London,

The sentiment to reduce to next to nil or simply ban plastic bags sounds laudable.
If Gordon brings in legistlation about this I hope he will not forget those currently working in the industry or those who may be made bankrupt by the enforced closure of a their company!
Fat chance unless it turns out all the bags are made by Newcastle Northern Rock Bag company.

The reason the Irish could so successfully pursue their policy without such pain is that there were no plastic bags manufactured in Ireland. It was U.K. companies that bore the brunt of losses falling out from that excercise in Government intervention.

Steve Douglas, Poole, England

You might think that paper bags are the way to go, but they have their own environmental drawbacks. Firstly, it takes a lot of water to produce paper. Secondly, they are heavier and therefore use more fuel to transport them. Thirdly, some recycling firms don't like to take brown bags mixed in with other paper.
Thin plastic bags can be reused many times and then used for rubbish.
I am not a plastic bag fan, but to switch to paper would not be that green.
The best bet is to use and reuse and then use again the old bags you have. After that, an organic cotton or hemp bag (that doesn't use toxic dyes or glue.)
Ultra greenies would find some old material or piece of clothing and make it into a bag, something along the lines of Roy Cropper's.
NHD SE22

Nigel Doran , London,

a step in the right direction.... there is nothing like a touch of compulsion to evoke a great change both in mindset and substance.

Naa, Berkshire, UK

God, where did all these naysayers crawl out from?! What a fuss they make - stupid Gordon Brown this, my right to use plastic bags that... Noones trampled on your civil rights, noones, whipped your human rights out from under your feet. You're being asked to support an initiative that would lead to less needless landfill and less waste of resources.

The effect on the consumer will be so small that, promise you - I live in a country that did this years ago - you will hardly even notice! If anything it doesn't go far enough, there are measures that could be taken on other forms of packaging that the consumer would hardly notice that would make a significant difference too.

Or is that equivalent to shooting Bambi?

Patrick, Cork, Ireland

Well, not really surprised, this government is big on control and interference...just not very good at anything

almost, Saffron Walden,

I don't suppose I could have some tax-payers money (£4000 should just about do), so that I can collect my groceries in a taxi?

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Thats fine Mr PM, your previous colleague will be remembered for taking us into war and you will be remembered for banning carry bag. Carry On Gordon.

Gopal Sharma, Loughborough, England

I really find it difficult to credit that, with all the big important issues affecting the country today and needing his attention, the Prime Minister is getting personally involved with an issue like this - hasn't he heard of delegation?

He appears to have become a "publicity whore" like all the others.

Homer, London,

In Republic of Ireland, since 2002, there has been a government levy per plastic carrier bag sold in shops. It is 22 cents per bag since July last year. People are now used to going to supermarkets with carrier bags in hand to avoid the charge and Government claims there has been a 90% reduction in use.

John, Dublin, Ireland

I don't see why this is even being discussed... just make the descision today and force all supermarkets to use enviromentally friendly bags. It's simple, not rocket science!
Just get on with it...

Thanassi, Preston,

Bean-Brown is detirmined to stop us having our plastic bags but cant stop the illegal immigrants.

Taxpayer, Plymouth Devon,

Theses enviromentalists want to take us back to the stone age. They are the biggest threat to our advancement ever field from energy, transport method to even bottled water.

GET A JOB AND STOP TRYING TO CHANGE OUR LIFESTYLES.

Audi3333, High Wycombe, UK

"I don't want to have to carry lots of heavy bags around with me in case I decide to go shopping". Thanks for that, Peter Farrington, from Maidstone, your pathetic whine made me laugh out loud. With people like you in the population, and this sort of can't-do-won't-do attitude we know the only direction for the country is down.

Still, you talk about a biodegradable material from which bags could be made. This wonder material might be called 'paper'.

Toby Martin, Munich, Germany

Poor old Gordon Brown. Once, he had a serious career in politics. Now all he can do is witter on about plastic bags, because a section of the popular press has made an issue of them recently. Obviously this is a job for a minister. not the PM, but he is desperate for popularity.

I wonder if Gordon Brown has ever gone shopping?

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Why don't we use the brown paper bags used so extensively in America and Canada?
Whilst on the subject of supermarkets and tax, why aren't they taxed on their packaging? If they were, and it would be quite simple to set up by building in the weight of the packing of EVERY package into the barcode and accounted for at the same time as they sumit their VAT returns, the volume we, as customers ,are having to dispose of would drop immediately.

AWilliams, Cradley Heath,

What a brave man Gordon Brown is. He is too scared to make a move until until a major retailer says it is going to charge for For years I and thousands of others have been fighting to stop this avalanche of plastic polluting our environment, WHERE WAS HE THEN.

D.Walker, Burnley, England

Ban the damn things permanently. Charging 5p per bag isn't going to do anything!

Wesley, Milton Keynes,

This crackpot idea is yet another example of how the laws of unintended consequences are ignored by this administration. Because of the two weekly rubbish collection which is now universal in Britain, we use these plastic bags to secure all the loose food and messy household waste, before putting them in the wheely bins. This keeps the smell down and prevents loose and stinking rubbish falling on to the roadway. (particularly when windy conditions are prevelent) We have had to do this because we have learned at the consumer end of the equation, not by sitting in some lofty spin doctors office, thinking of the next 'wheeze' to foist on the electorate.

David Nammory, Liverpool,

Has Brown really got nothing better to do? I would have thought that his time would have been better spent addressing civil order issues or the deplorable state of education.
In response to Gordon "Off His Trolly" Brown's statement “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.” , I would venture to suggest that gormless Gordon takes a trip to M&S (if he is capable of finding it on his own), pays 5p for a plastic bag, and sticks his head inside it for about 20 minutes. It would certainly "..encourage a change in the way we use these bags..".

Nick Oliver - Relieved Expat, Tbilisi, Georgia

It's a shame supermarkets can't take the intitiative - stop supplying free carrier bags and sell, instead, sturdy re-useable bags for 50p or a quid at the till. They have been doing it for years in France and shoppers now don't think twice about taking their reusable bags with them when they go shopping. It's really not a complicated solution.

Jim, Le Mans,

Gordon Brown.... what a waste of space.....

Carl, Bristol,

Some poeple seem to think environmentalists are cavemen/women. These are the people who want to go on behaving like two year old toddlers throwing out their toys from the pram when asked for a small effort - like carrying a canvas bag or a rucksack when going shopping.

In fact environmentalists are intelligent, sensitive people who are prepared to take proactive steps, not waiting for the Government to do everything for them. These steps will ensure that we don't end up living in caves in just a few decades from now, because we will have trashed everthing for short-term gain.

Esther Phillips, Leatherhead,

What is the damage in question? The shadow (...) secretary mentions wildlife, but I find it unlikely that any species is endangered by living near some plastic bags. Gordon Brown mentions that they are visible. That would seem to be mostly it. Following the lead of the Chinese, he is prepared to take strong action to compel us to adopt particular aesthetic values.

_Felix, Nottingham,

It's hard to believe people giving out about paying a whole 5p to make them think just a little tiny bit more about whether they really need an extra plastic bag. We have had the plastic bag charge in Ireland for years, and believe me it's no big deal!

Honestly, it's hard to pity the man who complained about having to carry 'lots of heavy bags' to the supermarket. Some people are so carried away by the need for everything to be disposable that they seem terrified by the concept of reusing a plastic bag!

Patrick Treacy, Cork, Ireland

Gordon Brown, like all the people supporting the banning of plastic bags, is simply showing his closet-Nazi credentials. Shame on you all! If used properly, the plastic bag is one of the 20th century's greatest inventions. Educate people rather than banning things. If you folk don't like plastic bags, then nobody is forcing you to use them. What gives you naive, moralising sycophants (including Bean-Brown here) the right to tell ME that I can't use plastic bags?

Steve Cox, Porthcawl,

Good to see that the government has got its priorities right -worry about plastic bags, but be in favour of a new runway at Heathrow with the massive damage to the environment that goes with it.

But, heh, runways are OK, as that's adds to the wealth of the country.

Clive, Surrey,

If the government were really serious about such environmental issues they would be putting their efforts elasewhere. This is the tokenism we have got used to from a government that lacks any real ideas or vision.

Andrew brown, derby, uk

Instead of imposing what is essentially another tax on British people, why not develop a robust and quickly bio-degradable alternative to the plastic bag that has most of the benefits and less of the problems.

As usual the ordinary British person gets lumbered with a tax for something they haven't been asked about and can do little about. We don't all shop in a village grocers buying loose vegetables and cycling home with a pannier bicycle. We need an easy and disposable means of carrying goods. It doesn't have to be a plastic bag. I don't want to have to carry lots of heavy bags around with me in case I decide to go shopping, but I don't mind if the bag I am given degrades in a week, as long as it doesn't degrade on the way home!

But find the solution first before taxing us. Otherwise it is like taxing car users without providing public transport.

Peter Farrington, Maidstone,

Still no Government ban on the millions of tons of junk mail stuffed through peoples letter boxes every day then. Way to go uneducated politicians.

Cromwell, Leeds, England