Their reaction came after the Chancellor said alcohol duty rates on non-draught products would increase in line with inflation. However, duty on draught products will be cut by 1.7 per cent, knocking “a penny off a pint in the pub”, she said.
Mr Kent said: “The disastrous 10.1 per cent duty hike last year has now been compounded. This further tax rise means the lessons have not been learned and the Chancellor has chosen continuity with her predecessor, not change.
“We urge all MPs who support Scotch whisky to vote against this duty hike and tax discrimination of Scotland’s national drink.”
Douglas Ross, the former Scottish Tory leader and a Highlands and Islands MSP, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “This duty increase by Labour is a blow to the Scotch whisky industry and flies in the face of Keir Starmer’s promise to back the sector.”
Responding to the SWA’s criticism, Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, said: “We have to balance the books in terms of public spending and, indeed, settling and stabilising the economy.
“There’s a £5 million boost in there for the Scottish whisky industry in terms of bringing new products to market. We’ve got £750,000 additional in the Scotland Office budget to promote Brand Scotland, which is a huge benefit, and of which Scottish whisky will be a key part.”
Sean Cockburn, the chairman of the CIT’s Scottish technical committee, said: “Increasing employer National Insurance and lowering the threshold that it starts to be paid will increase the costs to affected businesses of taking on staff.
“This could have an added sting in the tail for Scottish-based businesses, some of whom have been reportedly offering job seekers higher salaries to cover the cost of higher Scottish income tax rates.”