'Very real risk' Labour turmoil will jeopardise John Swinney's efforts on US whisky tariffs with Donald Trump
First Minister John Swinney says the UK government is too distracted to deliver for the people of Scotland.
First Minister John Swinney claims there is a “very real risk” the turmoil within the Labour party could jeopardise his efforts to remove US whisky tariffs.
Last week the First Minister travelled to Washington DC and met with US president Donald Trump in the Oval Office to make the case for reducing or removing US import tariffs on Scotch whisky. Tariffs of 10 per cent are costing the industry £4 million a week.
However, the First Minister said the scandals embroiling the UK government, including the sacking of its US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson over his links to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, could negatively impact his efforts.
Mr Swinney was being interviewed by the BBC when he was asked if the scandals could jeopardise his work to remove US whisky tariffs. Mr Swinney said: “There is a very real risk, to be honest.
“The UK government is completely distracted and has been distracted for weeks by its own internal failures, mistakes and errors.
“The people of Scotland who voted for them voted for better outcomes for the people of Scotland and what they’re delivering is chaos, which is distracting them from improving people’s lives. Whether it’s on whisky, I wish it wasn’t as distracted.”
Mr Swinney said it is “beyond me” why his discussions with the US president in Washington last week were not welcomed by the new Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, and said it was “hard work on behalf of Scottish whisky”.
Mr Swinney said he had “no insight” into any developments on removing whisky tariffs as he was not part of the official negotiating team. However, he is due to meet with President Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday night as part of the US president’s official state visit.
During his interview, the First Minister also said he was “very confident” about the future of bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis after the Scottish Government pledged £4m towards a furlough scheme to keep the company’s Scottish sites open.
The company had been planning to cut 400 jobs by closing its Falkirk and Larbert sites and moving production to Yorkshire. However, the Government funding will allow a furlough scheme to run for 26 weeks to allow Alexander Dennis to gain more orders.
He said: “The company is making progress on orders and its orders book is much healthier than it was.
“It has shared information with the Government, which is commercially sensitive. So I can’t share that, but the £4m we have provided is a bridge to the future.”
Mr Swinney added: “There are a number of elements coming together, but people should have confidence there is evidence because the Government cannot release funding unless it is confident orders are coming through.”
He also said he was re-considering his and his Government’s use of the social media platform X.
Earlier this year, the First Minister said he was considering his use of the platform owned by US tech billionaire Elon Musk. However, he now said he was thinking about this once again following the Unite the Kingdom rally in London over the weekend.
Mr Musk addressed the rally on Saturday where he called for the dissolution of parliament and a change of UK government.
Mr Swinney said of X use: “I’m certainly giving thought to that because we have to take a stand on this behaviour.”
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