Government vows to challenge EU Commission over 'tampon tax'

The government has vowed to lobby the European Union for the right to end the so-called 'tampon tax'.

Amid debate over the government's Finance Bill, Treasury minister David Gauke promised to challenge the European Commission on creating "flexibility" for member states to end a tax on women's sanitary products.

Currently sanitary products are taxed as luxuries rather than essential items.

While in government, Labour cut the rate to 5%, but was prevented from going any lower by European rules which block member states from adding products to an existing lists of zero-rated items without the agreement of all member states.

There had been cross-party support for an amendment by Labour's Paula Sherriff which required Chancellor George Osborne to publish, within three months, a strategy for negotiating an exemption with EU institutions.

But following Mr Gauke's concession, the amendment was defeated 305 to 287.

Mr Gauke warned that while the issue would be raised with the EU, the UK remained constrained by the rules and "other [EU] member states do take a different approach".

The issue has brought together campaigners and Eurosceptic MPs.

Tory MP Sir William Cash, a signatory of Ms Sherriff's amendment, said: "You need action to return to this parliament the right to be able to determine its own levels of taxation."

Former Labour minister Kate Hoey said: "Actually, this is really one of those basic, ridiculous things that the European Union does and what we need is to get control back in our own country of how we levy our VAT, which is why we should be voting to leave the European Union."

A petition calling for a change in the law has gathered more than 250,000 signatures, and similar campaigns have sprung up on the issue in countries such as France and Canada.