The Republic of Ireland handled the plastic shopping bag problem successfully, simply by taxing them out of existance. Shoppers now bring their own bags and it works out just fine.

John Weeks, Portmagee, Kerry, ROI

Being raised in another European Country (The Netherlands) I was surprised to find supermarkets here in the UK hand out carrier bags to everybody. It is so easy to reuse carrier bag(s). I always have a few folding crates in my car and it's so easy to use these instead of all this plastic waste!
I'm not a great supporter of Brown but I do think it's rediculous we create so much waste and therefore I think it makes sense that we make some changes in our lives.

Hendrik, Sheffield, United Kingdom

I think that it is great that Brown has commented on the absolute waste that is represented by plastic carrier bags. There is no need for them, 13 Billion per year end up in landfill in the uk every year

Jon Copping, Cambridge,

This is about as far as Brown as pm will ever get, talking about plastic bags, forget about the comming ressesion, boom and bust returning, making the taxpayers pay for a failing bank. And all the troubles in the nhs/schools/pensions... Thats it Gordon, you talk about plastic bags.

John, Essex, UK

Things have to start small though, your not looking at the bigger picture, your probably those people who flick through the environmental pieces unless it concerns you directly. Other people are young enough to worry about what will happen to the world in a few years if no one makes the effort

Amy, Stafford,

Ireland have managed to reduce carrier bag usage by 90% just by charging a few pence for them. 12 billion bags are used in this country each year and this kind of proposal sends the right message that we can not go on being so profligate with our resources.

Dan, Reading,

If these comments are typical, all I can say is what an illiterate society we have raised. So much for 10 years of New Labour's 'Education, education, education'!

It is very important to find ways of drawing people's attention to climate change. If having to reuse bags, or use natural fibre bags, will help to do this, then it would be a start at least. Do many people really care that most of these plastic bags end up in the oceans where they kill animals such as turtles, which eat them in mistake for jellyfish?

Andrea Polden, Chesham, England

Why are our supermarket bags made so thin that only two milk containers can be carried before the bag splits! I usually have to use about 10 bags each time for a shop and they mostly all get damaged and have to be thrown away. I travel to Ukraine frequently and two supermarket carrier bags there carries the same amount of shopping and they can be used over and over again! You don't see their carrier bags littering the streets. Ok they have other problems!

Andy Sincair, Brighton, UK

Nice one Gord, of course it won't affect you,you can afford to have your food etc delivered to your door .not everyone has a car so goods can be thrown in the boot. As usual it will be those who can ill afford green poliv]cies who will bare the brunt
of any changes. We will be forced to by bags at inflated prices
shopkeepers will cash in on alternative bags. what a waste of time.

waine UK, mersyside, UK

It looks like Mr Brown is running out of ideas. He's always taking the populists move. The reduction of plastic bags is to be welcomed, but if I ring my items through a checkout and they can't give me a bag, or want to charge me for a back. I tell them to put those items back on the shelf. I'll go elsewhere for my stuff. B&Q tryed supplying bags and it didn't last a month, they had to go back to supplying bags because they were having so much trouble from customers at the checkout! I honestly thought Mr Brown had more important thing to be getting on with. Other people well down the Westminster ladder should be seeing to these matters. Mr Brown should be trying to stave off the demand for an EU referendum. It's so important that it could cost him the next election. I've never voted anything other than Labour, but I may abstain next time around if things don't change. Not just my vote but the vote of six members of my family who follow my lead.

Ray B, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

I don't suppose Gordon Brown does his own shopping, let alone carry it home. Perhaps it would be a better idea to eliminate Gordon Brown from Britain.

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

Congratulations to the greenies for handing Brown something he can put a positive spin on. A pity it's such a trivial matter compared to, oh, I don't know, failing helth service, uncontrolled immigration, collapse of NR (don't forget Mervyn King said that it nearly brought down the entire UK banking system - probably still could, in which case there'll be no need for placcy bags), failing education, rising crime etc etc

From Oxford English Dictionary - politician: "a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement"

W Smith, Oldham,

More taxes on the way. What a Labour supprise

Len, Argyll, scotland

Does Gordon mean creating jobs for export like all our other jobs. UK tax payers foot the bill for research and development
and then the firms move abroad for cheaper labour. sorry but as far as I am concerned you stick your green policies in a plastic bag.

waine UK, mersyside, UK

Plastic bags are not Green.
There ore CO2 emissions in manufacture, and most of them are made in the Far East, so there's the transportation CO2 emissions as well. About 90% of them end up in landfill.

And it is so unavoidable. A lot of people have caught onto to using long-life cotton or hemp/jute bags. This is the green alternative.

The sooner we can get rid of plastic bags the better.
Then we start the process of reducing the horrendous amounts of over-packaging that our supermarkets insist on.

Hey, we might just stop climate change after all.

Maurice Spurway, Exeter, UK

Could we not just wrap Brown up in plastic and ban him?

What other popular tripe bandwagons will he jump on with next while waving his ban stick? Only time will tell!

Ben, Manchester,

Plastic bags are green!

The oil they are made from is put back into the ground as landfill - and if the bags only last 400 years, at least that's 400 years before the carbon gets back into the atmosphere. Instead of a few minutes when it gets burned in a car as petrol.

Peter Fairbrother, Trowbridge,

Has Gordon Brown ever experienced walking in the rain while carrying shopping in a paper bag?

John Doe, London,

Banning plastic bags...another pointless move by Gordon Brown that will probably just end up costing us all more money in some form of tax.

There is almost certainly going to be some sort of tax on plastic bags to pinch a few more pennies from our wallets....he has taxed everything else under the 'environment' label.

Sorry Mr Brown, we don't fall for your under-hand taxing anymore, we know exactly what you are up to.

The sooner we vote Prime Minister Default out the better!

Francis, Birmingham, UK

i guess if we no longer get plastic carrier bags for free for our garbage we will just have to buy plastic garbage bags from the supermarket ----- i dont really see any difference.

Wayne, Edinburgh

wayne bacon, edinburgh, scotland

How true, Steve from Chester. With todays technology why have our leaders and their staff have to fly around the world when they could easily have a vidio conference meeting. Just think of the carbon imissions that would save.
Tom.W. Coventry.

Thomas Wilshaw, Coventry,

Whoopee. That's saved the planet then and Brown's government with it.

Pity Northern Rock can't be wrapped in a plastic bag and disposed of too.

Pathetic.

Jonathan, London,

What is wrong with picking up the phone? There is no need to fly to Bali on a jolly.

steve, chester, uk

Plastic bags must go!. That though, is a drop in the ocean. What of the juggerenaut of consumer goods, which China, India and other nations produce for the west?. This polluting source has to be faced and minimized. We have to stop producing goods merely for profit, with a consequent polluting process.

Michael, Birmingham, England