Video: Will Ukip's 'tampon tax' scrap win them more female voters?

We asked voters whether Ukip's latest policy was a winner

Ukip announced today that it would scrap the 'tampon tax' if the UK left the EU

Ukip has announced plans to scrap the "tampon tax" on feminine hygiene products if they form a government in May.

The Eurosceptic party said that the scrapping of the tax would be included in its upcoming manifesto. Suzanne Evans, the party’s head of policy, said that such a pledge was one no other party could commit to.

Currently, male shaving products are classed as “essentials” by the HMRC and exempted from any VAT. Meanwhile, tampons and other feminine hygiene products are regarded as “luxury items” and as a result are subject to 5 per cent VAT.

Ukip say that EU law states that “no item that has ever had VAT charged on it can have VAT removed completely” and that the only way of abolishing the tax altogether would be to leave the EU.

The Independent took to the streets to ask female voters whether the issue was an important one in May and whether Ukip's stance would encourage them to support Nigel Farage's party at the ballot box.

In recent times, there has been a strong movement to try and abolish the “tampon tax”. A petition on the website change.org titled “Stop taxing our periods. Period” has already attracted over 220,000 signatures.