IF YOU believed everything that parts of the national media have been saying over the last few days, England’s supermarkets and shops should have been a seething mass of anger, resentment and confusion yesterday.

Why? Because a 5p charge for single-use plastic bags was being introduced.

While the English scheme does seem a little more complicated than those already in operation in the rest of the UK, the hysteria being drummed up by some parts of the media over the border is laughable.

It is now four years since the carrier bag charge was introduced in Wales.

Funnily enough, the world didn’t stop turning when the charge came in. Shoppers just got on with it.

Most importantly, plastic bag use in Wales since October 1, 2011, has reduced by more than 70 per cent.

There have also been significant drops in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

By comparison, plastic bag usage in England during the same period has increased by more than 21 per cent.

There are a whole series of exemptions under the English scheme that do not apply elsewhere in the UK.

Quite why the UK Government has agreed to these is beyond us.

The Welsh scheme works perfectly well.

Maybe our friends over the border have more to learn from us than just how to play rugby.