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Gender Pricing: Labour’s outspoken new MP tackles ‘tax on being a woman’

Elizabeth Bates

4 min read

Labour MP for Dewsbury Paula Sherriff tells PoliticsHome why unfair price differences between male and female products must end

There is a new Sherriff in town. Labour MP Paula Sherriff is part of the 2015 intake, after ousting Tory Simon Reevell in the marginal, northern constituency of Dewsbury.     

Yet, despite her rookie status, she is not daunted by Parliament’s ceremonious and sometimes stuffy style.

“I am not afraid to say anything in the Commons,” she tells PoliticsHome, “because what people want is a Parliament that is much more representative.”

It was this approach that saw Sherriff make her first big impression with an amendment to the Government’s Finance Bill calling for the removal of the ‘tampon tax’.

Although the move was rejected, the debate caught the public’s imagination and reinvigorated parliamentary language.

Sherriff continues: “The fact that in House of Commons chamber we were debating about periods and tampons and using words like womb and blood, I think it was really powerful…

“I just found it really refreshing. When I first mentioned the tampon tax to my researcher, who is a male, he was quite embarrassed and he blushed and by the time we came to the debate a few weeks later he was using the word tampon like he was saying ‘I am going for my lunch.’ And that’s great because we are really destigmatising the issue.”

In the aftermath of the campaign, the Chancellor announced that although EU rules prevented the duty being dropped, the £15m raised each year would go to fund women’s health and support charities.

Building on this success, the Dewsbury MP is now set to raise the issue of gender pricing; a phenomenon highlighted in a number of recent studies which found that equivalent consumer products were consistently more expensive for women.

“We want to be on an equal footing and that is why we need to tackle issues like this. I bought a deodorant yesterday… So, men’s deodorant was £1 and women’s deodorant right next to it was £2.31. I bought the man’s because I’m that stubborn and principled.

“But, you know this is what we find with razors; exactly the same. You can buy a pack of men’s razors for whatever cost, if you want to buy the same item by the same brand, it might just be more feminine packaging, and it will be another couple of pounds on top.

“Apparently the average is 37% between women and men’s products…

"So, it always seems that we attract a levy for being women, and we can’t let this continue. We have a duty, I certainly feel as a female MP that I have got a duty to raise this and I am really interested in the debate on Tuesday to see what people say and going in there with an open mind.”

In a similar, previous campaign, Sherriff confronted WH Smith and Marks and Spencer’s over higher prices in their hospital stores compared to nearby high street outlets, with mixed results.

“So I raised it in the House and we wrote to WH Smith and Marks and Spencer’s, just asking them for an explanation. WH Smith were amazing, they proactively contacted us saying we want to meet. Marks and Spencer’s were an absolute nightmare and remain so, and were very, very uncooperative unfortunately. So, I think it’s about having a multifaceted approach.” 

Reflecting on this experience, she notes what she has learned during her short time as an MP.

“We are just looking at what’s the best way of tackling this because ultimately we want to achieve a result that means that consumers get a better deal and particularly women, because it seems they are getting the thin end of the wedge at the moment.

“It’s not about rushing into it headlong because that would always have been my initial approach, to be sort of bullish about it, whereas one thing I have learnt from being Parliament is that you can just sit back for a few days and have a think about the best approach...

“It is important to be measured and strategic rather than rushing into it and getting a so-so result rather than achieving the objective.”

On her experience personally as a women in Westminster, Sherriff admits that “it is a bit of a boy’s club,” but adds that it does not intimidate her.

Describing her approach, she concludes: “Don’t patronise me. I beat a Tory to get here. I’m here through lots of hard work, determination and grit.”

The Westminster Hall debate on gender pricing will take place at 4.30pm today.  

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