However, this particular tax was not designed to raise money for the Treasury or level the playing field between online giants and those with high street stores to pay rates on.

It was a penny tax that would have levied 1p on every item of clothing sold by online and bricks-and-mortar retailers with the £35m raised to be invested in better recycling. The initiative was proposed by Mary Creagh MP, who led a cross-party inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry.