§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is being done to bring whisky duty in to line with other alcohol tariffs by level of alcohol content. [59542]
847W
§ Mr. BoatengThe duty on spirits has been frozen in the last five Budgets and a bottle of whisky is now 73p less expensive than it otherwise would have been. The freezes have narrowed the duty differential and the duty on spirits is now 34 per cent. lower (in real terms) than it was 20 years ago.
The Chancellor will continue to take decisions on a Budget by Budget basis, taking into account all relevant factors including the position of UK spirits producers and various duty differentials.