On 31st August, newspapers reported that the government was considering introducing a tax on disposable nappies in an effort to reduce plastic consumption. Number 10 was quick to dismiss the rumours, but in an article for City AM, IEA Director of Communications Annabel Denham argued she would not be surprised if the government did impose a levy on single-use nappies, considering their track record on green policies.

Annabel said: “The nappy tax idea reeks of the same muddled thinking that led former Downing Street press secretary Allegra Stratton to recommend that those who care for the planet vote Green, or Boris Johnson to declare he wants to lead the world on climate change while planning to open a coal mine in Cumbria. And surely the same arguments against diapers also apply to incontinence pads or, for that matter, sanitary products. It would take a unique form of government incompetence to impose a tampon tax just after having scrapped one (and giving them away for free in Scotland to tackle “tampon poverty”). Strangely, it doesn’t seem beyond the realms of possibility“.

Read the full article here.