Warning West Lothian distillery jobs could be hit by tax increase on whisky trade

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Tax increases on the whisky industry could hurt West Lothian jobs, councillors have been warned, as calls were made for the Labour government to reverse planned rises next month.While West Lothian’s minority Labour-led administration tried to justify the coming tax increases, the party’s amendment scraped home only by the casting vote.Four Conservative councillors and the Lib Dem, who normally back the Labour group abstained, tying the SNP and Labour at 13 votes apiece and leaving Provost Cathy Muldoon to back Labour.In what was a bruising day at a meeting of the full council the Labour group saw its vote tied again on another vote, over National Insurance, as the Conservatives and Lib Dem abstained.It then lost a vote over the proposed council response to the Government’s decision not to consider compensation over changes to pension age for the so-called Waspi women.SNP group leader Councillor Janet Campbell’s motion said the February increase in duty on whisky could do “ huge damage” to West Lothian which has two distilleries as well as bottling operations.Well-known names include Scotch whisky producers Glenmorangie and Glen Turner work in a food and drink sector which employs more than 2,500 in the county.The SNP motion called on the Chief Executive to write to the Prime Minister and Chancellor demanding the February increase be reversed, as well as writing to local Labour MPs.#Councillor Campbell said the duty increase along with other budget increases in fuel costs introduced by Labour were a “ blatant attack” on the industry.Councillor Willie Boyle highlighted the threats of tariffs from newly installed US president Donald Trump as evidence that “markets can change”, adding that however successful the industry