IMPORTANT BANFFSHIRE INDUSTRY LET DOWN BY CONSERVATIVES
Conservative MPs have come under fire for letting down a key Banffshire industry in the House of Commons.
With Banffshire being the pre-eminent whisky-producing region, the issue is relevant for local jobs and the wider economy at a time of growing recession and uncertainty.
Tory MPs on the Delegated Legislation Committee controversially abstained on the important vote which was dealing with the record tax increases proposed by the UK Labour Government. Not a single Scottish Labour MP attended the important Delegated Legislation committee meeting. Their English and Welsh Labour MP colleagues voted the measures through.
The SNP which stood up for the industry in the vote has described the Tory abstention as "a reminder why local people had turned their back on this anti-Scottish Party".
Local SNP candidate Eilidh Whiteford condemned the Tories lack of support for the whisky industry:
"It is unbelievable that the Tories have failed to back the whisky industry and everyone who works for it Banffshire.
"It is bad enough that the London Labour Government has had plans to raise duty on whisky by a record 40 year high. Quite why Tory MPs sat on their hands and failed to vote against these daft plans is beyond me, particularly at a time when we are seeing locally the first expansion of the industry in the form of the re-opened Glanglassaugh Distillery.
"More than ever, in these tough economic times, it is crucial that the Treasury commit to a fairer spirits duty regime.
"The whisky sector is one of Scotland's key industries both in export, earnings and employment terms, and the failure to secure a fair tax regime will undermine investment and competitiveness as well as damaging international trading conditions.
"The SNP will continue to stand up for the whisky industry in Banffshire and the rest of the country. It's a shame that both the Tories and Labour have in contrast let it down.
Note: The Members of the Delegated Legislation Committee are as follows:
Atkins, Charlotte (Staffordshire, Moorlands) (Lab)
† Blizzard, Mr. Bob (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury)
† Carmichael, Mr. Alistair (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
† Challen, Colin (Morley and Rothwell) (Lab)
† Chaytor, Mr. David (Bury, North) (Lab)
Clarke, Mr. Tom (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (Lab)
† Coffey, Ann (Stockport) (Lab)
† Crabb, Mr. Stephen (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)
† Duddridge, James (Rochford and Southend, East) (Con)
† Eagle, Angela (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury)
† Greening, Justine (Putney) (Con)
† Greenway, Mr. John (Ryedale) (Con)
† Holloway, Mr. Adam (Gravesham) (Con)
† Owen, Albert (Ynys Môn) (Lab)
† Robertson, Angus (Moray) (SNP)
† Stewart, Ian (Eccles) (Lab)
† denotes attended the Committee