North MPs lobby for tax cuts

Chancellor Philip Hammond was last night continuing behindthe-scenes talks on the future of whisky and oil taxes in advance of his Budget on Monday. The Treasury has been under pressure from industry leaders and Scottish politicians to rule out any levy hikes that would hit investment in the key sectors.

The Press and Journal reported this week that senior Tory sources north of the border were feeling increasingly “confident” there would be positive news for the oil and gas industry in the announcement.

The claim followed a report by experts at Aberdeen University which predicted the equivalent of £17 billion worth of barrels of oil can still be extracted from the North Sea.

Sources suggested the fate of whisky was “in the balance”, but lobbying by MPs and MSPs from the region is continuing.

Moray’s Conservative MP Douglas Ross argued this week that a rise in spirits duty would be “counterproductive”, as new figures showed that Scotch exports hit £1.96bn in the first half of this year.

Independent research has also recently found that whisky production slumps every time the Treasury hits distillers with higher rates of excise duty.

A study by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre found a correlation between a 9% increase in the duty in 200809 and a subsequent 10% fall in production.

Meanwhile, the confirmation of a £20bn investment in the NHS is expected to lead to £2bn of extra spending for Scotland.

And Mr Hammond is expected to act on calls to boost struggling high streets through a new £1.5bn package of measures.

The Budget used to be held in the spring, but Mr Hammond announced in 2016 he was moving it to the autumn.

It is thought he chose to announce his spending plans on Monday because he was worried about staging it on Halloween.

It is the UK Government’s final spending announcement before the UK is due to leave the EU in March, and the Treasury has indicated it will help to “build a strong, more prosperous economy”. Thousands of teachers from across Scotland are expected to march in Glasgow today to demand improved salaries and working conditions.

The rally, organised by Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) will begin in Kelvingrove Park and finish at George Square.

The EIS has been calling for teachers to be given a 10% rise to restore the value of salaries following public sector pay caps.

A pay offer which would have seen all teachers get a rise of 3% was rejected last month and was described as “divisive”, with issues

The V&A Museum in Dundee, a city set to receive government funding under the Tay Cities Region Deal