The Carrier Bag Scandal

[tony41]

No. It is not a joke. It is an extremely sensible new law. Many retailers are passing the charge on to charities. Morrisons estimate that they will be handing out half a million fewer carrier bags per year after the introduction. Once again, England is behind. My only objection is the exemption of many retailers from the scheme.

[countryfeedback87]

The price of the bags are already included in the product pricings, so we are effectively being made to donate to charity in return for a carrier bag. I am not against any sort of donations, that isn't the point here.

I do a lot of recycling in my every day life, going out of my way to take items to various locations depending on what it is in order to recycle it. I could just stick all this in the big bins we have outside the apartment block but I CHOOSE not to and actively make that choice.

We are having a choice took away from us, we are having recycling / environment friendly FORCED on us, I don't think anybody should be forced/fined for not using the "right" bins depending on what it is. We live in a free country but although it is minor in the grand scheme of things, we are having freedoms took away from us little by little (I'm a non-smoker but feel more and more smokers rights are being took away from them also).

If a shop, be it Tesco or Mo at my local, started charging for bags that is their choice, and I would probably pay as choosing to shop in that store I am choosing to have to pay (ala Aldi) but this Government are taking this CHOICE away and FORCING it upon all shoppers, that is what is wrong.

[mobymatt]

If a shop, be it Tesco or Mo at my local, started charging for bags that is their choice, and I would probably pay as choosing to shop in that store I am choosing to have to pay (ala Aldi) but this Government are taking this CHOICE away and FORCING it upon all shoppers, that is what is wrong.

Which government would you be talking about specifically?

The Welsh Assembly which started charging in 2011 - http://www.carrierbagchargewales.gov...skip=1&lang=en

The Scottish Parliament which started charging in 2014 - http://carrierbagchargescotland.org.uk/


...or?

[sidthelamp]

The price of the bags are already included in the product pricings, so we are effectively being made to donate to charity in return for a carrier bag. I am not against any sort of donations, that isn't the point here.

I do a lot of recycling in my every day life, going out of my way to take items to various locations depending on what it is in order to recycle it. I could just stick all this in the big bins we have outside the apartment block but I CHOOSE not to and actively make that choice.

We are having a choice took away from us, we are having recycling / environment friendly FORCED on us, I don't think anybody should be forced/fined for not using the "right" bins depending on what it is. We live in a free country but although it is minor in the grand scheme of things, we are having freedoms took away from us little by little (I'm a non-smoker but feel more and more smokers rights are being took away from them also).

If a shop, be it Tesco or Mo at my local, started charging for bags that is their choice, and I would probably pay as choosing to shop in that store I am choosing to have to pay (ala Aldi) but this Government are taking this CHOICE away and FORCING it upon all shoppers, that is what is wrong.

what a enlightend post from a socialist, i happen to agree with every thing you wrote above, the question is are modern socialists ie the new labour party going to change things, remember you take away choices ,you take away the ability to do for yourself , would a socialist party give back peoples ability to choose, revoke legislation that would give people the ability to do for them selves again if they so wish,

[countryfeedback87]

Which government would you be talking about specifically?

The Welsh Assembly which started charging in 2011 - http://www.carrierbagchargewales.gov...skip=1&lang=en

The Scottish Parliament which started charging in 2014 - http://carrierbagchargescotland.org.uk/


...or?

The powers that be, cameron, the MPs, lobbiests, whoever, you know what I mean, that's not the point

[mobymatt]

The powers that be, cameron, the MPs, lobbiests, whoever

That's quite a broad canvas

you know what I meant

I'm not sure I do, but "oh well, whatever, nevermind."

[countryfeedback87]

what a enlightend post from a socialist, i happen to agree with every thing you wrote above, the question is are modern socialists ie the new labour party going to change things, remember you take away choices ,you take away the ability to do for yourself , would a socialist party give back peoples ability to choose, revoke legislation that would give people the ability to do for them selves again if they so wish,

Thank you. I wasn't a fan of Corbyn (I won't disclose who I voted for lol), but he has stirred up a lot of passion within the Labour party and the past 2 days have left me leaning more towards him (pun intended) and as an aside, McDonnell who I thought came across particularly well on Question Time last week. If he can continue to get the support he appears to be increasing from our backbenchers etc, get some strong policies in place we will have a lot to look forward to once we can get back to the polls and get this shower out. I will not be surprised if the scenes from 1990 are repeated in the next 4 years

[sidthelamp]

Thank you. I wasn't a fan of Corbyn (I won't disclose who I voted for lol), but he has stirred up a lot of passion within the Labour party and the past 2 days have left me leaning more towards him (pun intended) and as an aside, McDonnell who I thought came across particularly well on Question Time last week. If he can continue to get the support he appears to be increasing from our backbenchers etc, get some strong policies in place we will have a lot to look forward to once we can get back to the polls and get this shower out. I will not be surprised if the scenes from 1990 are repeated in the next 4 years

im not sure you answered my question, but as long as there are others like you within the socialist party maybe you could influence thinking = the ability to do for ones self again,revoke legislation in favour of corporations, against people,

the environmentalists, such a good idea in the 60s 70s then taken over by governments and big corporations for there own ends, fueling the scaremongering till its become a fanatical religion by some, who dont seem to realise there being used, i had to laugh in disbelief, when i read the mandate for resources wales, to be self funding and to protect legitimate business, so in other words issue a whole raft of licences that never existed before, fine and imprison ,small businesses that could not afford to conform to this self imposed legislation, all for the better of huge corporations, sold on the back of the environment

[johnwash1]

Suppose I should bump this.

What a joke

Strange. From your postings, evidently you imagine yourself to be environmentally responsible. Yet you're repulsed by the idea of a change that will improve the environment.

Yes, it would be nice if a law wasn't required, if everyone (or even just the majority) could be relied on to act considerately. Unfortunately, many UK citizens can't be relied on. When I go for a walk and invariably return with bags full of empty cans, juice bottles, etc I'm in no doubt of the selfish nature of many.

Biodegradable vs non-bio. They both need feed stock to make them and energy to run the factory producing them. It's best if plastic bags are discouraged, whether either kind. And when they're left to blow around the streets and countryside, either way they're unsightly.

I for one welcome our new overlords charging 5p!

[PetBazaar]

Thank you. I wasn't a fan of Corbyn (I won't disclose who I voted for lol), but he has stirred up a lot of passion within the Labour party and the past 2 days have left me leaning more towards him (pun intended) and as an aside, McDonnell who I thought came across particularly well on Question Time last week. If he can continue to get the support he appears to be increasing from our backbenchers etc, get some strong policies in place we will have a lot to look forward to once we can get back to the polls and get this shower out. I will not be surprised if the scenes from 1990 are repeated in the next 4 years

It's quite interesting, from a North British perspective, seeing the whole Jeremy Corbyn thing unfold. Just like in the rest of the UK there was a lot of hope that he might be the start of something different. But I'm rather afraid that he's already managed to fritter away a lot of good will that he may have had a lot sooner than many were expecting.

It wasn't a good start, when talking about Scotland during the conference, to quickly resort to SNPBAD. Two of the points during his extensive 60 seconds on Scotland were, unfortunately for him, demonstrably false. Unfortunately, today he's appeared on BBC Radio Scotlandshire and repeated the claims, which are still false. Add to that a telly appearance where he added another 2 false claims and one hugely over exaggerated one and you can see where things are heading. Now either he is being incredibly badly briefed or he's deliberately attempting to mislead.

And lets not even mention Trident. Does anyone now know what the Labour line is on that?

And then there's new Shadow Chancellor John McDonell. What was it he was saying at conference? His section on Scotland only lasted about 30 seconds, so you may have missed it. But fortunately here's a bit I prepared earlier...

“Let’s be clear: the SNP has now voted against the living wage, against capping rent levels, and just last week voted against fair taxes in Scotland to spend on schools”.

Everyone who follows politics in Scotland scratched their heads and looked at each other mystified. No one seemed to have any idea what he was talking about. But then realisation dawned. It actually refers to three amendments lodged by Labour in the Scottish Parliament over the last couple of years. Now at this point it's worth pointing out that two of these were, what's called, Bill & Motion amendments. Effectively amendments to a motion concerning things that aren't devolved powers. In reality they're nothing more than a way for Holyrood to tell Westminster that it approves, or disapproves of something.

Now two of these three amendments effectively said (and I paraphrase here*). "We hate the SNP, they're all a shower of incompetent wasters who've wrecked the country, so go on, lets have a living wage". Needless to say, they got voted down. Hey Presto! SNP votes against living wage. The third amendment (rent caps) was voted down as it was a hugely partisan 11th hour amendment to a bill that had been 3 years in the making and, in addition, a consultation was due to begin anyway just a few months later. But suffice to say, none of the amendments were designed to succeed, they were all about point scoring, petty politics.

Corbyn and McDonell promised "Straight talking, honest politics". I'm not sure that this is really what we had in mind.


Oh, and as for carriers. Having had it in place up here for a year or so now... Great idea. Didn't like it to begin with, but now my only complaint is having to buy more bin bags.


* I can post the actual wording of the amendments, but really, they're not that interesting.