Chamberlain backs spirits duty freeze amendment

Yesterday I backed a Liberal Democrat amendment to block the coming rise in spirits duty.

The UK Government’s recent Budget failed to include a freeze in spirits duty. The amendment would have reversed the rise in order to support distillers of whisky, gin and other spirits, including distilleries in North East Fife.

The spirits industry is hugely important across Scotland, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing billions to the UK economy. It is an economic success story, and also a key part of the local economy in North East Fife, with award-winning artisan distilleries.

The UK Government should be supporting this success, but sadly they have been absent. Distilleries are already dealing with increased costs, and increasing the duty on their products now poses a very real threat.