10p bag charge is too much, says Treasury
Theresa May’s plans to double the plastic bag tax to 10p are being opposed by the Treasury amid concerns that they look like “profiteering”, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. The Prime Minister is this week expected to announce proposals to raise the levy in order to accelerate the clampdown on one-use and disposable bags and encourage more consumers to take up recyclables. However, a Treasury source told The Telegraph: “The 5p tax has already worked and dramatically reduced the use of plastic bags. If it’s raised to 10p it looks like profiteering.”
THERESA MAY’S plans to double the plastic bag tax to 10p are being opposed by the Treasury amid concerns that they look like “profiteering”, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The Prime Minister is this week expected to announce proposals to raise the levy in order to accelerate the clampdown on one-use and disposable bags and encourage more consumers to take up recyclables.
The charge has been hailed by environmentalists for achieving an 85 per cent reduction in plastic bags since the scheme was first introduced in England in October 2015.
However, a senior Treasury source told The Daily Telegraph: “The 5p tax has already worked and dramatically reduced the use of plastic bags. If it’s raised to 10p it looks like profiteering.
“The key thing is that people feel their family budget is going up. Consumers don’t want to feel like they are being hammered with more taxes on the cost of everyday living.”
It comes after reports that Chancellor Philip Hammond has clashed with Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, over the imposition of green taxes.
According to The Sun, Mr Hammond has told Treasury insiders that he is “not interested” in creating new taxes such as a 25p levy on disposable cups.
Mr Gove has described the “latte levy” as an “exciting idea”, but Mr Hammond wants to take a “more intelligent” approach such as using “very small but significant tax incentives” on producers and retailers.
Currently only retailers with more than 250 employees have to charge shoppers a minimum of 5p for the bags they provide, but ministers are now expected to extend the levy to convenience stores.
It comes eight months after Mrs May unveiled the Government’s ambitious 25-year environmental plan, which promised to eradicate avoidable plastic waste by 2042 in order to leave the “natural environment in a better state than we found it”.
She described single-use plastics as one of the “great environmental scourges of our time” as she announced a series of policies including plasticfree aisles in supermarkets and a tax on takeaway containers.
Political sentiment has turned against single-use plastic since its effect on marine life was revealed in the BBC series Blue Planet II.
Since his appointment as Environment Secretary last year, Mr Gove has led efforts to speed up the crackdown, announcing in April a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds.