Labour promises £10m to end 'period poverty'

Labour Shadow Education Secretary said it was 'shameful' that girls were missing school because they couldn't afford sanitary products

Angela Rayner said girls missing school because they couldn't afford sanitary products was 'shameful' (PA)

Labour Education Secretary Angela Rayner has said the party would commit £10m to ending "period poverty" in schools in England.

Ms Rayner described as a "scandal" a recent report that revealed some girls were missing school because the couldn't afford sanitary products.

Scotland is piloting offering free sanitary products to women and girls.

Ms Rayner told delegates in Brighton that action was needed on the issue in England too.

"As well as giving our schools the resources they need, we must ensure they give every child the support they deserve. All our pupils deserve a good quality of life. So I am proud to say that as your secretary of state I will allocate £10m from our departmental budget to end the scandal of period poverty in our schools," she said.

Last year MPs backed the abolition of the "tampon tax", an EU-wide 5% VAT levy on sanitary products, after the government accepted a Labour amendment to the Budget.

This followed public pressure and a petition signed by 300,000 people.

In its election manifesto, the Green Party promised free sanitary products for pupils and women on low incomes