Hello all 273,759 of you!!! The Treasury 'vowed' to end tampon tax last month. But we haven't won yet. Action still needs to be taken to win the support of the EU so we're launching one last project to ensure that history is finally made, continent-wide. Here's the idea: The Union doesn't always take petitions seriously, as names on paper are sadly meaning less and less. Personal letters however, cannot be so easily sidelined. Particularly when these letters arrive in their hundreds. To mark our two year anniversary in May 2016, we're planning to confront the EU Commissioner for Taxation in Brussels and we want to take as many of your voices with us as possible. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stand up to this sexist tradition by sending us your personal letters, addressed to the EU, explaining why you feel that axing sanitary tax is so important. Whatever your gender, background or wherever you are in the world, we NEED to hear from you. To help us force change through the European Union, PLEASEEE: 1) Write, write, write!! Tell the EU Commissioner for Taxation why he should axe tampon tax. I've attached a template letter below for you to use, edit or not use as you like. 2) Send, send, send!! Send your letters via email to lauracoryton@hotmail.co.uk or use the Mr. Postman app (linked below) to mail your letters over the internet. If you would like to mail us your letters without using our app, please send them on to Laura Coryton at Weir Bank, Monkey Island Lane, Bray, Berkshire, United Kingdom, SL6 2ED. 3) Join us in Brussels! Your voice will be with us in May when we head to the EU to put forward your arguments. There we will put an end to tampon tax, together. Period! Thank you guys!!! And thank you to everyone who protested in Bristol this weekend! Laura ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Template letter (to use/edit if you want to!): Dear Mr Pierre Moscovici, European Union commissioner for taxation, I am writing to you on behalf of the 'Stop Taxing Periods. Period' campaign, which is currently backed by over a quarter of a million supporters and counting. This is a matter close to my heart and one which I hope is similarly close to yours. On the 27th October 2015, the Treasury of the United Kingdom vowed to take active steps within the European Union to challenge the absurd and inherently sexist tax on sanitary products. This was a significant breakthrough for our campaign. Your support and participation is crucial for the Treasury to succeed in reducing sanitary tax to the lowest possible rate. I feel that securing this reduction across Europe would greatly benefit the Union in the following ways: 1) It would reflect a consistently fairer system of taxation that would no longer actively chastise individuals by birthright. No Government should freely capitalise on the political alienation of women and the marginalisation of issues associated with them. 2) A range of vital health products would become instantly more accessible to the millions of people who would seriously jeopardise their well-being without them. 3) It would actively challenge the period taboo and the mainstream shaming of female bodies that has exacerbated the prevalence of sexism throughout society. 4) Tax would finally reflect the needs of society as a whole, and the needs of those who menstruate as well as those who do not. 5) An outdated, elitist ideal that has marginalised the value and needs of women would finally be silenced; an act that major political figures across the Union, such as the Prime Minister for the United Kingdom, have backed. Tampon tax only generates a menial proportion of tax revenue (0.0072% of the UK's tax revenue in 2013/14): an amount that simply cannot justify the harms it perpetuates. I would greatly appreciate your support on this matter. I look forward to your response and a long-awaited resolution to this important issue. www.Change.org/EndTamponTax Yours Sincerely,