Biodegradable bags give of methane if they end up in landfill so they are not the answer. Paper bags need alot more energy and water to manufacture and transport so they are not the answer either. Plastic bags are a littering nightmare and make a considerable contribution to the plastics polluting our seas. None of these bags are necessary if only we confronted our 'disposable' lifestyles and got back into the habit of owning a shopping bag.

rosie Dorey, guernsey, channel islands

I shop at Tesco and re-use any plastic bags I may have, but more commonly take a cloth bag. Tesco credit me with "Green Clubcard points" for each bag I save them. I suggest that those bags that they do issue should be replaced with strong brown paper bags.

John Howard Norfolk, Tiverton, Devon, UK

Call me a cynic, but I believe that the budget will be all about using 'green' principles to raise taxes more than they would otherwise get away with.

In the same way that they use the 'terrorist threat' as an excuse to restrict freedoms.

Mike Pouilsen, Reading, Berkshire

Re: Kay Tie - York

Since the plastic bag is an advert, it has to be in pure colours - normally white - for printing. This means that the bag has to be made from high-grade feed-stock with lots of titanium oxide for whiteness.

Bin bags are black or dark-green - and the colour is irrelevant anyway - and so can use lower-grade recycled feed-stock where the colours are mixed.

da, Chambery , France

Fully bio-degradable bags ARE ALREADY available, but the supermarkets don't want to pay extra!!
Tax non bio bags a little and they might. It then becomes a win win situation. I have looked into this a lot and you can get good info on bio products here: http://www.stanelcoplc.com/bioplastic-faq.html

Geoff, Colchester,

This is just more of same from the government. Never any major investment e.g. improvements to our decrepit public transport system, just tax hikes.

There should be a tax on voting labour because these buffoons are both bad for the environment and bad for our pockets.

A Harris, Kettering, UK

Aviation tax increases will hit the holiday makers and families yet again. In many cases it already costs more in taxes than it does for the flights to leave the UK on a short haul. But strangely you don't pay very much on for on flights booked from Europe to UK
Yet another rip-off by this damn government.

Businesses, holiday makers and ex-pats are already being hit hard by the weak pound resulting from Brown's mishandling of the economy causing the money markets to lose confidence in the pound.
At todays tourist exhange rate it will cost over eighty pence to buy a euro. Last year a euro cosy sixty pence!
Need a holiday after working hard all year to swell the taxmans coffers? Relax in the sun? Forget it.

Dek Crossingham, Birmingham, England

In 1994 when I visited to Shanghai , all shoppers provides palastic bags and no shoppers provides paper bags .I cannot believe that the unecological country plans to stop shops from offering free plastic bags .

Haru, Tokyo, Japan

People will end up buying more bin bags instead. The only solution is to have bio-degradable bags - its a win win solution for everyone.

Martin, London,

Rest assured that the only considerations that will be behind such proposals as those described here will be to increase the tax take. This is no more than spin by a government which has poured untold billions of our cash and billions more in borrowings into public services for no discernible return and in rescuing an insolvent bank for the sole reason that its likely collapse threatened one of its key electoral assets.

figurewizard, Hampshire, UK

I think that Tesco should outdo the M&S initiative of charging 5p per carrier bag by only charging 2p per bag which is not too much to deter shoppers and use the 2p to subsidise buying biodegradable bags from the likes of Stanelco or other biodegradable bag manufacturers. That way, shoppers will easily foot the cost of the change, Tesco will appear green and not pay more for their bags, and overall less bags will be used as people become more conscious of how many bags they need to pay for. Even 10 bags for shopping would cost just 20p. The bags should have a highly visible biodegradable in x length of time label across them so people know which type of bag they are getting and how they can safely dispose of them. They can even compost them in their own gardens.

Paul, Bristol, England

"A plastic bag tax has been in force in Ireland for the past six years. Plastic bag use has been cut by 90 per cent and cleared up bag litter."

Yes, and the use of plastic bin liners shot up by 80% because most people re-use shopping bags as bin liners. The words "unintended consequences" will be the epitaph on the gravestone of this Government.

Kay Tie, York,