Tag Archives: plastic bags

Kirsten Johnson

Building on our green credentials

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 8th February 2018 - 1:30 pm

We are the party who introduced the 5p charge for plastic bags and set up the Green Investment Bank. We led the way on investment in renewables and in green technologies. So what’s next?

Party members would have received a recent newsletter with a link to the party’s vision on how we can save our seas from plastic pollution.

We are calling for the government to commit to a Plastic-Free Charter.

We need to tackle our throw-away culture by providing incentives to reduce, reuse and recycle.

I couldn’t agree more.

Aberporth, in West Wales,

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Autumn Budget – what our Spokespeople say

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 23rd November 2017 - 10:30 am

The Lib Dems have been hot off the mark with what this Autumn Budget doesn’t do.  Here are 7 failures.

And leading Lib Dems have been speaking out about what the budget really means:

Leader of the Lib Dems Vince Cable MP says

Each person in Britain is set to be £687 worse off per year compared to forecasts before the election.

And as living standards are squeezed, the Government is setting aside £3.7bn to cover the cost of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

The Chancellor found more money in the Budget to plan for Brexit than he did for our struggling NHS, schools and police.

Liberal …

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5p Cup Charge Might Just Happen

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 2nd November 2017 - 12:48 pm

Lib Dems led the way with hugely successful plastic bag charge, leading to a reduction of over 85% in plastic bags, and followed last year with policy to introduce a small charge on disposable coffee cups.

The plans were rejected by government last year, but there appears to have been a U-turn.

Yesterday, Environment Minister Therese Coffey told the environmental audit committee that the government will consider introducing a coffee cup charge to tackle the 2.5 billion disposable cups thrown away each year.

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron commented

It is good to see

…

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Mary Reid

Lib Dem success – huge reduction in one-use plastic bags

By Mary Reid | Mon 1st August 2016 - 10:59 am

 

When did you last pay 5p for a plastic bag to carry home your shopping from a supermarket?

When I went food shopping yesterday I selected from the pile of heavy duty bags that sit in the boot of my car. I can choose from bags that bear the logos of Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, M&S or Lidl and for some time I’ve gone beyond feeling embarrassed if I use the ‘wrong’ bag in a shop. I very occasionally pay for a bag if I forget my own but it’s interesting that my reaction is one of guilt rather than annoyance, which I usually assuage by paying extra for a more expensive but reusable one.

And yet it is only last year that the 5p charge was introduced in England, although Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had got there earlier through their devolved legislatures. We can thank the Lib Dems in Government for the charge in English supermarkets, even though some Tory ministers at the time hated it. In the first 6 months of the scheme the usage of thin plastic bags dropped by an amazing 83%, which equates to around 6 billion fewer bags each year.

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