Social media is a fantastic tool for people to communicate with their MP and vice versa. The downside is when people see an issue in only black and white, and don't hesitate to criticise. Sadly politics - and indeed life, is rarely that straightforward!
A classic example is the criticism which I, and many of my colleagues have received for voting "against" a Labour amendment to the Finance Bill regarding the so-called "tampon tax". I thought it would be helpful to explain my position and that of the Government.
As background, I firmly believe that women's sanitary products are neither a non-essential item, nor a luxury, as they are currently defined under EU tax rules. In my view, women shouldn't be taxed for these basic and utterly essential items - in fact this was an issue I campaigned on during the last Parliament.
Thanks to a recent petition it has again come on to the political agenda. At this point I again raised my concerns, as did many other colleagues. Thanks to this pressure the Government listened and agreed to discuss this issue with the European Commission. Clearly a direct appeal from the Prime Minister is a much more effective and appropriate way to address this indisputable inequity.
It was unfortunate that this policy change was not recognised by the opposition and a vote was called, dividing us into two crude camps of for and against when in fact we are all on the same side!
As the founding lady of this campaign said:
"...today's outcome can still be chalked up as a success. This is the first time the Government has made a commitment to ending sanitary tax and it's something us campaigners won't forget."
So I hope that reassures those who simply look at the voting record, or believe the noise on social media, that I and other female (and male) colleagues have been working on this issue for some time and welcome the strong commitment from the Minister to do something about this.
But don't take my word for it - please read the full article from Laura Coryton, the leading campaigner on this here.
