Listen Up Ladies: UKIP might be on our side | General Election 2015 | Naomi White

I’m an avid follower of the progression of the campaign against tampon tax. Tampon tax, you say? They tax our periods? Well, let’s give you a little lowdown on the current situation.

tampon

So, for a while, there has been a movement against the governments across the world for taxing what we require for our lady functions. Currently, for all sanitary products, there is a tax of 5% in the UK. This is because they are considered ‘non-essential, luxury’ items. Most recently, a petition was put together and presented to George Osborne, prior to the release of this year’s budget. Unfortunately, it was dismissed. Due to EU regulations, the UK does not have the power to eliminate this tax by itself, it does have to be an EU-wide decision. But the aim of the ‘Stop taxing periods. Period.’ campaign is not only to stop this tax, but to raise awareness through support. There are various channels throughout Europe that are being used to target politicians, and the more support the campaign garners, the more likely it will be that the EU will review the tax.

“there has been a movement against the governments across the world for taxing”

It was inevitable that this would become mixed up in the run-up to the election. The latest news is from UKIP, who, in an appeal to win some female support, has announced its commitment to scrap the tampon tax. The party’s Head of Policy, Suzanne Evans, is keen to remove the “invidious tax” – but there’s a catch. Of course, the only way in which we’d be able to possibly do this is to leave the EU. Ms. Evans makes a valuable point in highlighting how ridiculous the EU legislation is – but I’m not entirely certain that there’s a little bit more to their sudden support.

UKIPUKIP isn’t generally recognised as a party that appeals to women. The latest YouGov poll has placed the party’s support at 15 points from the male voters, but the women lag behind at only 10. So of course it’s been a brilliant idea to jump on the bandwagon with the campaign against tampon tax. And it all helps their anti-EU stance too, so it’s a bit of a win-win situation. But maybe that’s me being quite sceptical.

Personally, I’m not entirely sure that leaving the EU is the best way to go about ending the tax. But it’s another way that the party is trying engage to add you to the list of supporters.

Ta, Nigel.

By Naomi White

Naomi White

naomi-white-blogger-300x195I’m a twenty-something young woman who has recently begun her career in the city. After moving to London last year, I can safely say I’m already hooked.

I graduated not too long ago, uprooting my life in Swansea in favour of a new direction. The last few years in Wales have allowed me to explore as many opportunities as possible, from working in the Welsh government, from trying my hand at rowing, to writing for the student blog.

But now I work for a media house, so I’m surrounded by marketing and publicity all day. I love it as I am able to stay on top of the news almost 24/7, skimming through every article and every opinion piece I can lay my hands on. And by that I don’t just mean the latest pictures of Kim Kardashian (you’ve got me – guilty pleasure).

About the author

Naomi currently works in the West End as an Executive Assistant for a real estate investment firm, but outside of work hours she is a keen current affairs blogger. You’ll either find her in Topshop spending all of her paycheck, or at her desk, wearing a rather snazzy new outfit but wondering why she has no paycheck left.
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