{"id":22001,"date":"2026-04-25T18:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/22001\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:56:10","slug":"rachel-reeves-issuedwarning-after-catastrophic-tax-raid-sparks-crisis-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/22001\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves issuedwarning after ‘catastrophic’ tax raid sparks crisis | Politics | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Treasury\u2019s tax raid on distillers<\/a> has left both the country and Britain\u2019s whisky and spirits sector worse off<\/a>, Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> has been warned. The industry has sent out an SOS, warning that a \u201ccatastrophic\u201d 17% hike in spirits duty over the last three years has led to a \u00a394million fall in tax revenues in 2025-26. Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for UK Spirits, warned Britain risks \u201ctaxing the spirits sector into oblivion\u201d. She said the duty increases have \u201cled to the Treasury losing money\u201d, which is \u201cexactly the opposite of what was intended, and it is time to change course\u201d.<\/p>\n

Distillers and MPs from across Britain are pleading for change to prevent further harm to the sector, stating that revenues are \u00a3 1.1 billion lower than expected when a new alcohol duty system was introduced in 2023. Braden Saunders, the founder of the Doghouse Distillery in Battersea, London, warned that the UK capital has \u201cone of the most exciting spirits scenes in the world\u201d but \u201cthat success story is slowly being written off\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the fall in revenues should be a \u201cmoment of reckoning\u201d, adding: \u201cThe Government has the opportunity to look at the evidence clearly and acknowledge that the current approach simply isn\u2019t working for anyone<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trade bodies including the UK Spirits Alliance, the Scotch Whisky Association, the English Whisky Guild and the Gin Guild have issued a joint warning, saying it is \u201ccritical\u201d the Treasury does not \u201dturn a blind eye\u201d to the impact of a \u201cpunitive and distortive duty rate\u201d which has resulted in \u201cjob losses and investment pauses\u201d.<\/p>\n

They state: \u201cSpirits duty amounts to a super tax on the industry and must be urgently addressed. Pubs and the wider hospitality industry cannot survive on beer alone, yet hard-pressed consumers are being forced to pay over the odds to responsibly enjoy premium spirits, which underpin the profitability of many bars, pubs and restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative MP Joe Robertson said: \u201cI\u2019ve met with proud business owners who have told me that, under the current duty system, their success is being totally undermined. Revenues falling should be a wake-up call to all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendy Chamberlain, a Liberal Democrat MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for Scotch Whisky, said: \u201cThis year\u2019s promised review of the alcohol duty system is an opportunity to address the root of that Treasury shortfall, to ensure that spirits are not discriminated against compared to other categories of alcohol, and to support Scotch Whisky producers in their home market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Rachel Reeves<\/a>‘ tax rises are crippling our economy, damaging growth and leaving everyone worse off. You can’t tax your way to growth.”<\/p>\n

A Treasury spokesperson said: \u201cWe have kept alcohol duty rates steady in real terms to support public health and the public finances. The Office for Budget Responsibility\u2019s latest forecast expects alcohol duty receipts to increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Treasury argues there are several possible reasons for falling alcohol consumption, including \u201cincreased moderation among consumers\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Treasury\u2019s tax raid on distillers has left both the country and Britain\u2019s whisky and spirits sector worse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[5174,10036,13,182,10032,10035,10034,10033],"class_list":["post-22001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-alcohol","tag-alcohol-duty-system","tag-britain","tag-rachel-reeves","tag-reeves","tag-spirits-duty-hike","tag-treasury-tax-raid","tag-uk-spirits-sector"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116466875277007429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}