MPs stop plans for London bag ban
A bill to allow London councils to ban shops from giving out free plastic bags has been blocked by MPs.
Three MPs opposed the second reading of the London Local Authorities (Shopping Bags) Bill last Wednesday, blocking it from happening until a debate with the whole House has taken place. The ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) and the BRC (British Retail Consortium) had joined forces to use Parliamentary procedure to petition against the London Local Authorities (Shopping Bags) Bill.
The ACS and BRC said the bill was excessive and flies in the face of a national voluntary agreement retailers reached with the Government only last year. They said councils should be supporting retailers’ moves to improve their own, and customers’, environmental performance, not wasting effort and money on pointless headline-grabbing gestures.
