Jeremy Hunt has been urged to rethink his plan to raise alcohol duty amid warnings it could risk jobs in Scotland's vital food and drink sector.
Hunt is expected to announce a range of a spending cuts when he makes his delayed financial statement on November 17 amid fears of a return to UK Government-imposed austerity. "These costs are then passed on to the consumers as the price at which bars and restaurants buy products increases. "Already Scotland has bankrolled the UK Government’s economic incompetence with the windfall tax with 90 per cent of profits being taken from companies based in Scotland.Mark Kent of the Scotch Whisky Association previously warned that distillers were already facing surging costs in production."That has been stripped from the Scotch whisky industry following the Chancellor’s decision to U-turn on the duty freeze for Scotch whisky announced just over two weeks ago.