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Finance Bill

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. He makes an important point. Whisky is an important export and, as I was saying, increasing the duty in this country encourages other countries also to discriminate against Scotch whisky. That means that when British trade negotiators protest about others countries' harsh treatment of the Scotch whisky industry, those countries have an easy riposte—they just say, "But your own country also discriminates against whisky." The Scotch whisky industry is very important to the entire economy. It employs more than 10,000 people directly and supports an estimated 50,000 further jobs through its spending on input products. It also provides a significant boost to our balance of trade. It is also an important local employer in remote areas where alternative employment is hard to find. For example, the many excellent malts produced in my constituency on the islands of Islay, Jura and Mull provide local employment. It would be very hard to find alternative jobs on those islands. As a result of the Government's punitive actions, the product produced on those islands brings in large sums for the Treasury but only a small fraction of that money is returned to the islands to be spent on public services. If any hon. Members want to spend their holiday on Mull, they will certainly see the disgraceful state of the roads, although they will also see beautiful scenery. Those islands produced great revenue for the Treasury, but they do not see the return in public services.