SCOTCH WHISKY INDUSTRY

That this House notes with pleasure, and congratulates the Scotch Whisky industry on, yet another year of record exports in which not only did earnings scale new heights, but the number of bottles sold overseas climbed back to the levels of the peak years of 1978 and 1979; endorses the research published in the British Medical Journal which indicates that regular moderate consumption of alcoholic drinks, including Scotch Whisky and other British distilled spirits, provides significant protection against heart attacks and cholesterol LDL; and urges the Government to take note of these equal health benefits by moving towards a drinks tax structure in which all drinks are treated equally and taxed at one rate, according to their alcoholic content.