Shoppers to be charged 5p for plastic carrier bags
Shoppers in England will face a 5p charge for plastic bags under a new government plan to be announced by Nick Clegg.
The scheme, intended to discourage the use of environmentally-damaging carrier bags, will be set out by the deputy prime minister as the Liberal Democrat conference opens in Glasgow.
Mr Clegg is understood to have fought hard for the policy in the coalition, despite government concerns about the rising cost of living. The move, which is set to come into effect in autumn 2015 after the next general election, will bring England into line with other parts of the UK.
Charges are already in place in Wales – where there has been a 76% fall in plastic bag use since it was introduced in 2011 – and Northern Ireland, with Scotland to follow suit next year.
“Nick Clegg had to fight pretty hard in government to deliver this when everything is about the cost of living,” a senior Lib Dem source said.
“We believe that a small charge outweighs the environmental damage caused by plastic bags.”
Proceeds going to charities
The charge will only apply to supermarkets and other large stores, with small corner shops excluded.
The proceeds will go to charities involved in clearing up the environmental damage caused by the bags rather than the government or the retailers.
With the government aware of the pressures caused by the squeeze on living standards, other senior Lib Dem minister suggested easing pay restraint as the economy improved.
Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander indicated that workers should share in the success of business.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s not for me as a Treasury minister to start telling employers what their pay policies should be, that’s a matter for firms.
“But of course, as growth returns to our economy and we see businesses being successful, the workforce will want to and should share in that success.”
Mr Alexander made it clear that any pay rises should be confined to the private sector and public sector staff will face several more years of frozen wages.
Push for rise in minimum wage
“We are going to have to continue controlling spending to ensure the country stays on the right track,” he said.
Business Secretary Vince Cable suggested he would push for the National Minimum Wage to rise, benefiting all low-paid workers.
He is to ask the Low Pay Commission to restore its value, which he calculates has fallen in real terms by 10-12% since the crash of 2008, The Guardian said.
In an interview with the newspaper he said: “We cannot go on for ever in a low pay and low productivity world in which all we can say to workers is ‘you have got to take a wage cut to keep your job’.”
The measures to combat low pay will also involve steps to tackle the abuses of zero-hours contracts, it was reported.
Mr Cable said: “We have got to enter into a different kind of workplace. For a very long time, five or six years, wages have been suppressed in low wage sectors. I am sending a signal that we are entering a very different environment.”
The Lib Dem leadership will seek support for its approach to the economy on Monday and Mr Clegg warned against an attempt by the party’s left to call for a change in course.
The deputy prime minister told The Independent: “Just as the economy is turning, it would be a huge risk to start putting the stability on which growth is based on ice.
“It would create uncertainty and confusion in the markets, investors would very quickly become cautious again, employers wouldn’t take on more people.
“There is nothing that would more inhibit growth at this delicate stage than another bout of uncertainty about what the long term plan is to clear the deficit.”
Mr Clegg, who is due to speak at the conclusion of Monday’s debate, added: “Having spent three years explaining to people that we need to clear the decks and make sure future generations are not saddled with our debts, people would be very confused if suddenly we gave Ed Balls a boost by suggesting that somehow his critique was right and allowing George Osborne to take the plaudits for any growth.”
But he added that his party will fight the 2015 election on its own economic policies: “We are parting company with the Conservatives, Tory Treasury orthodoxy and Osbornomics by setting out a very distinctive Lib Dem approach how to go further and faster to promote growth.”