Politicians sign Commons motion to back campaign against waste

MPs from all corners of the UK have backed the campaign against excessive packaging, fired by public pressure and personal frustration at accumulating so much rubbish on shopping trips.

Exerting pressure on retailers and manufacturers to "design out" excessive packaging, 54 MPs have now signed a Commons Early Day Motion (EDM) supporting The Independent's Campaign Against Waste.

Representatives of seven parties have signed: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and DUP.

Among them are three former ministers: Elliott Morley, until last year Labour's environment minister; Labour's Glenda Jackson, the actress turned transport minister; and Peter Bottomley, one of Margaret Thatcher's first employment ministers.

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP who tabled the motion (without our knowledge), said: "I am a consumer and I have been frustrated at packaging on a personal level and constituents have told me it's very frustrating that they are trying to do their bit for the environment, but yet everything they buy is covered in so much stuff. And we end up paying for it.

"We pay for it when we buy the product and we pay for it through our council tax because of landfill and we pay for the damage it does to the environment," she added.

Labour MP Lynn Jones, a mother of two, takes re-useable bags when she shops for food for her family because she is concerned about the environment. Explaining her reason for signing the motion, she said: "I think there's too much packaging. I'm thinking of joining the Women's Institute campaign [which saw members tearing off packaging in shops].

"I have occasionally taken packaging off if it's really outrageous and left it at the checkout. It's really annoying. Some of it is so difficult to unpack as well."

Packaging contributes to the £4.5m-a-year bill for landfill for the local authority in Torbay, whose MP is the Liberal Democrat Adrian Sanders.

Mr Sanders, who has signed the EDM, said: "There are constituents who write to me about environmental issues and I have had correspondence in favour of a plastic bag tax, which is an excellent idea."

Early Day Motion 814 notes "with concern" the excessive levels of packaging used by manufacturers and retailers, and says that 17 per cent of the average household food budget is spent inadvertently on packaging. It "commends the recent campaign against excessive packaging run by The Independent newspaper". Finally, it "urges supermarkets to reduce where possible packaging on goods sold, encourage the re-use of plastic bags, recycle packaging waste and encourage suppliers to reduce packaging further up the supply chain."

Has your MP signed the EDM? Email them using this formula: surname followed by the initial of first name, then @parliament.uk. (Thus, Elliot Morley, who has signed, is morleye@parliament.uk)

MPs who are backing The Independent

Baker, Norman (Lib Dem, Lewes)

Bottomley, Peter (Con, Worthing West)

Breed, Colin (Lib Dem, South East Cornwall)

Browne, Jeremy (Lib Dem, Taunton)

Caton, Martin (Lab, Gower)

Campbell, Gregory (DUP, Londonderry East)

Cook, Frank (Lab, Stockton North)

Corbyn, Jeremy (Lab, Islington North)

Cryer, Ann (Lab, Keighley)

Cummings, John (Lab, Easington)

Davidson, Ian (Lab, Glasgow South West)

Davies, Dai (Ind, Blaenau Gwent)

Dean, Janet (Lab, Burton)

Dismore, Andrew (Lab, Hendon)

Donaldson, Jeffrey (DUP, Lagan Valley)

Durkan, Mark (SDLP, Foyle)

Drew, David (Lab, Stroud)

George, Andrew (Lib Dem, St Ives)

Hancock, Mike (Lib Dem, Portsmouth South)

Hodgson, Sharon (Lab, Gateshead East and Washington West)

Holmes, Paul (Lib Dem, Chesterfield)

Hopkins, Kelvin (Lab, Luton North)

Hoyle, Lindsay (Lab, Chorley)

Huhne, Chris (Lib Dem, Eastleigh)

Hunter, Mark (Lib Dem, Cheadle)

Iddon, Brian (Bolton, South East)

Jackson, Glenda (Lab, Hampstead & Highgate)

Jones, Lynne (Lab, Birmingham Selly Oak)

Kramer, Susan (Lib Dem, Richmond Park)

Lepper, David (Lab, Brighton Pavilion)

Llwyd, Elfyn (Plaid Cymru, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy)

Loughton, Tim (Con, East Worthing and Shoreham)

Marsden, Gordon (Lab, Blackpool South)

McCafferty, Chris (Lab, Calder Valley)

McCrea, Dr William (DUP, South Antrim)

McDonnell, Alasdair (SDLP, Belfast South)

Meale, Alan (Lab, Mansfield)

Moon, Madeleine (Lab, Brigend)

Morley, Elliot (Lab, Scunthorpe)

Pelling, Andrew (Con, Croydon Central)

Penning, Mike (Con, Hemel Hempstead)

Rennie, Willie (Lib Dem, Dunfermline and West Fife)

Salter, Martin (Lab, Reading West)

Russell, Bob (Lib Dem, Colchester)

Sanders, Adrian (Lib Dem, Torbay)

Simpson, Alan (Lab, Nottingham South)

Simpson, David (DUP, Upper Bann)

Soulsby, Peter (Lab, Leicester South)

Spink, Bob (Con, Castle Point)

Swinson, Jo (Lib Dem, East Dunbartonshire)

Taylor, David (Lab, North West Leicestershire)

Williams, Hywel (Plaid Cymru, Caernarfon)

Williams, Stephen (Lib Dem, Bristol West)

Willis, Phil (Lib Dem, Harrogate and Knaresborough)