IN response to the introduction of a plastic bag tax in Northern Ireland (1) London Assembly Member Jenny Jones AM is calling on the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson to publicly criticize the government for their long standing refusal to enact reserve legislation to bring in a mandatory charge on all single use carrier bags in England. Boris Johnson in his 2008 Environment election manifesto was calling for a ban on single use plastic bags (2).
Jenny Jones said:
“In the face of the Government’s irrational dithering and delays on a plastic bag charge in England I welcome any moves by the EU to introduce an EU-wide bag levy (3)”
“The Mayor of London originally supported a ban on single use plastic bags and claims to have lobbied the Government on introducing a charge. It’s time for Boris to publicly press them on their failure to act”(4)
Jenny added:
“The illusion of the free plastic bag, is just that, it’s an illusion; they are in fact quite expensive. Retailers pass on the cost to shoppers in the form of higher prices. We then pay for their disposal through council taxes or other taxes used for clearing blocked drains and waterways. Wildlife pays when birds and animals mistake plastic for food, or get tangled.”