‘Scotch Should Be Something We’re Knocking Back, Not Knocking Down’: UK Labor Party Leader Slams Whisky Trade Policies

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor Party slammed the U.K.’s latest failure to negotiate a Scotch trade deal with India. (Photo: London, England, UK)

On Thursday, The Independent reported that the United Kingdom’s Labor Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, condemned the country’s current trade strategy when visiting the InchDairnie scotch whisky distillery in Scotland.

The most recent developments within the strategy involved the United Kingdom failing to broker a trade deal with India, a very lucrative market for the whisky category.

Starmer called the trade strategy “unforgivable,” according to the outlet, and claimed he would “back Scotch producers to the hilt,” with his trade strategy were he to control the government.

The leader visited the distillery mere hours after eight members of his party resigned over an argument regarding a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Scotch should be something we’re knocking back, not knocking down. The nation’s number one export, Scotland is the beating heart of the world’s whisky industry,” Starmer said. “From Skye to Stirling, Scotland’s 140 distilleries put the nation on the map around the world. Nowhere is Scotch whisky more popular than in India. We should be celebrating that fact.”

Starmer claimed that Conservatives broke promises to the Scotch distilleries in addition to failing to close the trade deal with India.

“My Labor Party will put growth at the heart of our mission-led approach to government,” Starmer claimed. “Labor’s plan for trade will back British businesses to export more and fit hand in glove with our industrial strategy…. We’ll promote key Scottish products and exports like whisky so that we can unlock the full potential of the Scottish economy.”

According to the Scotch Whisky Association in February, Scotch whisky exports were valued at over £6 billion ($7,461,540,000.)

The industry has faced looming uncertainty of late, with inflation in a post-pandemic world.

On Nov. 7, several U.K. Spirits Coalitions advocated for freezing a looming whisky tax hike, which could prove a devastating blow to the industry and has left nearly every distiller on edge.

“The industry is crying out for certainty,” Starner stated.

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