He will say: “Councils are facing (spending) dilemmas all over Britain. Meals-on-wheels, crèche facilities, libraries are all being deprived of funding, partly because of £1billion a year that is wasted on cleaning up litter.
"It’s disgusting and it’s ridiculous. The plastic bag levy in England has been a small step in the right direction. I remember accosting the late Michael Meacher on the street when he was Labour Environment Minister and asking him why this country didn’t have a plastic bag tax like Ireland.
“I got a mouthful of waffle from him on how the industry didn’t like the idea and it was all terribly difficult.
"It wasn’t and it isn’t. And if any of you were responsible for telling him it was a bad idea, you should go and sit on the naughty step!
“What we really need is a structured, joined-up and well-resourced national campaign. Because there’s only one sustainable solution. Just one.
“That’s to change behaviour. That will take time, sustained effort and, of course, money. The problem is that the default mode of the English, the nation’s F5 key, is to whinge.
“It’s essential to recognise that we aren’t going to see lots of special funding from central government to change behaviour.
“We have to make dumping litter socially unacceptable, in the same way that drink driving is now socially unacceptable.
“Any campaign to stop people dropping litter will need to be funded predominantly by the private sector. Let’s just decide enough is enough and we’re going to change.”
The Daily Telegraph disclosed earlier this month that fines for littering are set to double to £150 and members of the public are being urged to challenge people dropping rubbish in public places, as part of a new crackdown on litter louts.
Marcus Jones, the Communities minister, said he wanted the new fines to hit litter louts “in the pocket”, ahead of the publication of a new national litter strategy to "create a lasting clutter-free legacy for England".
At the moment, fines for littering are set locally by councils and range from £50 to £80, with a default level of £75 if the council does not specifically set its own amount.
However, the consultation from the Department for Communities and Local Government will recommend higher fixed-penalty notices of up to £150. The minimum fine could also double from £50 to £100.
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d02743e/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cearth0Cbusinessandecology0Crecycling0C121112980CStop0Ewhinging0Eabout0Elitter0Eand0Epick0Eit0Eup0Esays0EJeremy0EPaxman0Bhtml/story01.htm