Chancellor buckles to SNP pressure on whisky

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson MP has welcomed news that the Treasury has tabled a new order to cut an 8 per cent whisky tax increase, announced in the Pre-Budget Report. It is understood that the PBR duty increase will be cut by half to 4%. The u-turn came just 48 hours after the original announcement.

Mr Robertson, whose Moray constituency produces more than half of Scotland's malt whisky, said:

"Clearly, I welcome the fact that the Treasury has buckled in the face of the outcry from the whisky industry and the SNP over the last 48 hours.

"It confirms just how much of an afterthought the whisky industry was to the Chancellor that he took such a reckless decision in the first place.

"The decision to cut the increase by half is certainly welcome, but it does not reverse the massive tax increase the industry has been hit with between the Budget and the Pre-Budget Report.

"The way in which the Pre-Budget Report is unravelling is indicative of the disgraceful and dithering way the UK Government is responding to the economic crisis, bringing chaos and confusion where we need certainty and clarity.

"The wheels are coming off the Pre-Budget Report, and serve as a perfect illustration of why the Scottish Parliament should be responsible for all tax and spending decisions in Scotland."

In his pre-Budget statement, Alistair Darling announced an 8% rise in excise duty on spirits, which would see the tax on a bottle of whisky rise by 47p to £6.45

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson has led calls for fair taxation on whisky, based on equal treatment to drinks based on alcoholic content after the Chancellor’s "bombshell" Budget in March 2008 which increased the duty on a bottle of whisky by 59p – the highest increase the rate of duty on whisky since 1975.