plaggy bags - you're doomed!!!!!!

Yesterday a fantastic step forward was made toward a national tax on plastic bags. The 33 London councils voted unanimously to ban the handing out of free plastic bags. Green England have been working closely with the London councils, and the petition was used as evidence for popular support for the levy.What happens now?The London Councils will deposit a private bill to the Houses of Parliament on 27th November. This will then be debated, voted on by MPs, and will hopefully come into law within 18 months.What can I do?Firstly, please keep encouraging others to sign the petition. It has already had an impact on the London councils' decision, and over the next 18 months could make a big difference on the MPs' votes. Secondly, please lobby your MP to request that they support the tax. Their contact details can be found at www.writetothem.com. It is their decision at the end of the day, so a quick letter, email or phone call from you could change their vote, and indeed the final outcome.When you write to you MP, it would be a good idea to mention both the London Councils' decision and the petition, to give them a guide as to the level of popular support for the campaign. There are around 10,000 people on this email list, and only 647 MPs in the English parliament. If we all wrote to our MP, on average each would receive fifteen letters! That would lend a huge amount of credibility and support to the issue, so please take five minutes to call, email or write to your MP. A sample letter can be found at www.green-england.co.uk/sampleletter.php.Thank you so much for your support - the issue is rapidly becoming high profile (it is on the front page of the Independent today). More information can be found here.Robwww.green-england.co.uk