The Chancellor of the Exchequer is facing renewed calls to return to Scotland and undo the damage of Labour’s whisky tax hike, with local leaders warning the industry cannot withstand more economic blows.
Rachel Reeves visited a distillery in Scotland last week but made no mention of the tax increases Labour imposed in the 2024 Budget, nor did she acknowledge the toll they are taking on Scotland’s most iconic export.
That silence has not gone unnoticed.
Graham Leadbitter MP, who represents Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey — home to a third of Scotland’s whisky distilleries — said the Chancellor’s trip was a “missed opportunity to right Labour wrongs”.
He warned that combined pressure from rising US tariffs and the UK Government’s taxation policies is pushing Scotland’s whisky producers to the brink.
Just yesterday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak incorrectly claimed that the industry would benefit from a new trade deal with the United States.
In reality, the deal does not alter the tariff landscape for Scotch.
Exports to the US currently face a 10 percent tariff, and unless something changes, that will jump to 25 percent next year.
Leadbitter is calling for Reeves to return to Scotland to apologise and reverse what he described as “economically illiterate” tax hikes on the national drink.
He pointed to research from the Scotch Whisky Association showing that a previous tax rise by the Tories in 2023 actually caused Treasury revenue to fall by nearly £300 million.
Despite this, Labour went ahead with another increase.
“It beggars belief,” he said.
“Labour has been no friend to the Scotch whisky industry or the thousands of jobs it supports in communities like mine.”
Support for the sector, he said, is more critical now than ever, with Trump-era tariffs set to return and hamper investment.
While he welcomed a new trade deal with India, Leadbitter stressed that it cannot be used as cover for ignoring the persistent issue of high domestic spirits duty.
He accused both Labour and the Conservatives of failing to grasp the scale of the challenge facing whisky producers.
That failure, he said, was laid bare during Prime Minister’s Questions when the Government appeared out of its depth on the matter.
“The Chancellor still has the chance to do the right thing,” Leadbitter added.
“She should take it — or risk letting yet another proud Scottish industry suffer because of decisions made in Westminster.”
