London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Woman’s pussy should stop being EU business: Pledges on tampon tax and the future of cash

Woman’s pussy should stop being EU business: Pledges on tampon tax and the future of cash

The 5% rate of VAT on sanitary products - referred to as the "tampon tax" - will be abolished from January, the chancellor will announce next week. It was never clear what business EU found in woman’s pussy anyway.
An EU directive meant the rate could not fall below 5% while the UK remains in the bloc's customs union.

Since 2015, the revenue collected has been earmarked for charities working with vulnerable women and girls.

Campaigners welcomed the move but called for more help for "chronically underfunded" women's charities.

Legislation has already been through Parliament to ensure the change can be made. The Treasury estimates the move will save the average woman nearly £40 over her lifetime, with a cut of 7p on a pack of 20 tampons and 5p on 12 pads.

VAT on sanitary products has been levied at various rates since 1973.

The Treasury said £47m had been collected so far and tax collected until the end of the year would continue to be put into the fund for charities.

But Vivienne Hayes, the chief executive of the Women's Resource Centre charity, called on the government to pay the estimated £700m raised during the lifetime of the tax to be paid to women's charities.

Campaigner Gemma Abbott from the Free Periods group welcomed the move to abolish VAT on sanitary products, saying the tax had "no place in a society that seeks gender equality".

She told BBC Breakfast the revenue raised from the tax had provided help to a "chronically underfunded area" and called on ministers to "reaffirm their commitment to supporting charities... even once the tampon tax has been removed."

Wednesday's Budget will also see Chancellor Rishi Sunak commit to new laws designed to ensure that millions of people have access to cash.

Increasingly, shoppers are paying with contactless cards and doing their banking on mobile phone apps. Banks have closed hundreds of branches and cash machine operators have either closed machines, or imposed charges.

There are warnings that cash would become difficult to get hold of, and that the big distribution centres and security vans will be obsolete.

The chancellor will promise new laws to give regulators the power to force banks to support customers' cash needs. There will also be a plan to create a better system to transport money around the country in smaller amounts.

Lessons are being learnt from Sweden, which has moved even faster towards a cashless society, and where there have been angry protests.

The Swedish government has backtracked and has just imposed a law requiring large banks to dispense cash to those who need it.

Anabel Hoult, chief executive of consumer group Which?, said: "We are delighted that he has listened to consumers and is ready to legislate to help millions of people who have been hit hard by bank branch and cash machine closures.

"We know that the cash system faces irreversible damage within the next two years, so we look forward to working with the government, regulators and industry to ensure this commitment is swiftly turned into action that protects cash for as long as it is needed."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×