Sainsburys chief attacks government greenstanding on plastic bags

Justin King has gone public and attacked government plans to legislate to require retailers to charge consumers for single-use bags.

He points out that the issue is complex. This policy has had only a temporary effect in Ireland. Paper bags cost more to transport and are twice as energy intensive as a plastic one. Furthermore

Last year a large number of retailers, not just supermarkets, sat down in good faith with Wrap, the government-funded body concerned with packaging and food waste, and Defra to agree a voluntary approach to cutting the environmental impact of plastic bags by 25pc by the end of 2008 - not simply the number of bags.

This target appears to have been thrown out and informed debate overturned.

So the government knew there were informed discussions going on but chose to override them with a crude headline measure which will make life more expensive for many people (standard practice, government doesn't care about that) and won't address the overall problem anyway.

Right long-term decision? I don't think so. This is not serious governing.