Highlands and Islands Unemployment (Hansard, 27 May 1982)

Lord Belhaven and Stenton
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, the primary aim of the Government's economic strategy is to reduce inflation and thus to create the climate in which industry can prosper and unemployment can be reduced. For the first time in three years we have single-figure inflation. Interest rates, too, have come down from last year's levels. The availability of assistance from the Highlands and Islands Development Board has helped greatly to mitigate the effects of the current recession in the Highlands and Islands.
The Government have virtually doubled the levels of district agricultural income support since 1979, and there are signs that the worst of the recession in the whisky industry is over.

Lord Belhaven and Stenton
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply, which I think is a little more optimistic than is justified. Is my noble friend aware that in the islands of Islay and Jura alone, with a population of only just over 4,500, out of nine distilleries, two have closed down in the last year, and of the seven left, two have ceased producing, and this has caused 32 redundancies so far, with no doubt more to come? Can my noble friend tell me what, in the Government's view, is the effect on this situation of the successive rises in whisky duty which we have had over the last few years, and whether Her Majesty's Government intend to continue along this path?

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, if I may deal first with the latter point of my noble friend's supplementary question, I would say that the percentage increases in whisky excise in the last Budget were in line with those on other spirits, such as gin and vodka, but were half those on wine, petrol and beer. The reason I say that is that the Government are very well aware of the difficulties which the whisky industry has recently been facing. I am also aware of the 1255 particular difficulties which the Islay distilleries are at present suffering, but as I have said to my noble friend, the indications are that the industry in general is beginning to come out of the recession.

§ Lord Shinwell
My Lords, as regards the recession in the whisky industry, have the Government considered the medicinal properties of whisky, about which the great majority of physicians agree; and is it not possible to make it available on prescription under the National Health? It would help the whisky industry and also help many of us who depend on that kind of medicine.

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, if the noble Lord, Lord Shinwell, is suggesting himself as part of some sort of promotion of the benefits of drinking whisky, I am sure the industry, and certainly the House, would accept such with acclamation. More seriously, whisky is a fluid which delights the hearts of men, and, on the basis of "a little of what you fancy does you good", I am sure it will go from strength to strength.

§ Lord Strabolgi
My Lords, arising out of what the noble Earl has said, is he aware that the very high tax rate is becoming a disincentive to sales as it is putting whisky, particularly malt whisky, beyond the reach of the ordinary consumer Will the Government do something about this, or will they allow the whisky industry to be run down in company with so many other industries since they came into office?

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, I do not know whether the noble Lord was listening or, indeed, whether he understood a previous answer I gave, but the fact of the matter is that whisky was treated (if that is the word) with a certain compassion (if, again, that is the word) in relation to the last Budget increase. As I have tried to explain, my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is well aware of the difficulties which have been facing the whisky industry, and, as I have said, these measures were taken in a way that bore these difficulties in mind.

§ Lord Elwyn-Jones
My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Earl understood his answer to an earlier question, when he said that whisky was going from strength to strength. What strength is it going up to?

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, any Scot, or indeed all Scots, will know of the tremendous increase in the availability, and indeed the strength of malt whiskies recently, in the last few years. My answer to the noble Lord, Lord Shinwell, was not entirely with my tongue in my cheek. For those of us who really do enjoy a nip of malt whisky during an evening, and are able to afford it, certainly the range on offer has increased enormously in the last few years.

Viscount St. Davids
My Lords, the noble Earl and the House are well aware that whisky is a very valuable export. I wonder whether the noble Earl has any figures he can give us of its export value, and of how this has been doing recently. Because they might indeed be of interest in considering this question.

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, I have not those figures available. If I may, I will make inquiries and write to the noble Viscount.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, coming back to the question of unemployment, would the Minister not agree that the Highlands and Islands Development Board, despite some failures, has done an enormous amount to promote employment and to keep people in the Highlands?

§ The Earl of Mansfield
Yes, my Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Lord. The Highlands board has done, and is continuing to do, an extremely good job. One way in which its success is reflected is that in fact unemployment in the Highlands and Islands is running at a slightly lower figure than that for Scotland as a whole. I am not complacent, but it does point to the success of the board.

§ Lord Kennet
My Lords, will the Government confirm the mass of evidence that alcoholism is now the most rapidly-growing social problem in this country, that it is alcohol that causes alcoholism and that, therefore, there is no shred of justification for taxing alcoholic drinks on any basis other than their alcohol content?

§ The Earl of Mansfield
My Lords, I am not sure that I agree with the noble Lord's contention. Obviously, alcohol taken in excess causes grave problems, not least to those who actually have to deal with, and are part of the family of, those who over-indulge. Nevertheless, the benefits of whisky, at least, both in terms of moderate drinking and to those who gain their living from the manufacture and distribution of it, are of the greatest benefit to Scotland.