Pre-Budget Report

Only two days ago, the UK Labour Government made a proposal that would have amounted to the biggest annual rise in taxation on the Scotch whisky industry in almost four decades. We are about to hear—perhaps—a clunking U-turn, recognising that that is a reckless and dangerous road to go down. If the Chancellor had the interests of the Scottish economy at heart, why would he have even made that proposal in the first place?