Tag Archives: spirits duty

Alistair Carmichael is angry.

He has today offered “a dram of whisky and a fish supper” to anyone who can track down Scottish Conservative MPs missing in action while distillers and fishermen suffer. Not content with supporting a Brexit that has screwed over both industries, the Conservative Government is making it worse by whacking up spirits duty and scrapping a visa system for fishing crew overnight that forced boat owners back to port.

During a key vote this week,  Scottish Conservative MPs including Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack, Andrew Bowie, David Duguid and John Lamont voted against Alistair’s proposal to reverse a hike in spirits duty on distillers, while David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross were mysteriously absent.

Meanwhile not one Scottish Conservative MP attended Alistair’s  Urgent Question on fishing worker visas, despite the issue affecting fishermen across Scotland.

Alistair raged:

“This is less “Where’s Wally?” than “Where’s the whole pack of Wallies?”

“Scottish Conservatives love to take election photos by whisky stills or on the quayside. Douglas Ross must have a photo album an inch thick of him swirling drams with Boris Johnson. When it comes to these crunch votes and debates, however, they are nowhere to be found. The Tories jump in front of the camera using local businesses as political props but they are missing in action when it is time to deliver.

“Fishermen, distillers and other businesses will have seen the empty Conservative benches while we challenged ministers on urgent issues this week. They will rightly ask if they are getting value for money from these MIA MPs.

“If anyone can track down Douglas Ross or any other Scottish Tory MP and get them to explain why they are abandoning distillers and fishermen in their time of need then I will gladly buy them a dram of whisky and a fish supper for their trouble. That small investment would be more benefit to local businesses than the parliamentary efforts of the Scottish Conservatives this week.”

Just in case Scottish Tories are reading this, they should watch Alistair’s urgent question on fishing below and hang their heads in shame that they were not there to support Scotland’s fishing crews.

People in rural communities will be wondering what on earth the point of voting Conservative is when their elected representatives don’t bother to help them.