To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with United Kingdom Government ministers regarding the devolution of additional powers to the Scottish Parliament, including those over alcohol and tobacco duty. (S6O-05227)

I begin by paying tribute to Richard Demarco, one of Scotland’s greatest cultural figures. Together with Clare Adamson, the convener of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, I attended an event at the Scottish Parliament yesterday at which he was recognised as the Scottish European of the year. I am sure that I speak for all members and parties in the Scottish Parliament in congratulating him and paying tribute to his remarkable contribution to culture in Scotland and Europe. [ Applause .]

To answer Kenneth Gibson’s question, ultimately, we believe that Scotland should be an independent country with full control over all the powers that we need to grow our economy. Decisions that affect Scotland should be made by the people who live here.

Scotland contributes a disproportionate amount of alcohol and tobacco duty to the Treasury relative to the rest of the UK. Although we have not had discussions specifically on the devolution of alcohol and tobacco duty, we have consistently called for a full devolution of income tax and VAT, alongside national insurance contributions and capital gains tax, to be considered as a priority.

I would add corporation tax to that list. Scottish ministers previously suggested devolving alcohol excise duty in the Scotland Act 2016, but that was ignored by the UK Government. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that alcohol duties will raise £13 billion across the UK this year, and £8.1 billion will be raised by tobacco duties. As the Cabinet secretary said, a disproportionate amount of that will be collected in Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary agree that devolving such duties would allow Scottish ministers to have greater resources to mitigate the damage that is inflicted on health and the economy by tobacco and alcohol?

I agree with Kenneth Gibson. It is clear that devolving additional tax powers would give the Scottish Government greater resources to tackle the health harms that are caused by tobacco and alcohol, which remain a significant health challenge. Disappointingly, our calls for the disparity in alcohol duty to be addressed in this budget went unheard. Greater control over taxation would ensure that the Scottish Government could design a system that better tackles public health challenges while supporting Scottish businesses and industry where it is appropriate.

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests in relation to the Scotch Whisky Association.

I agree with the Cabinet secretary’s remarks about Richard Demarco, whom I congratulate on his well-deserved award.

On the substance of the question, although I agree with Mr Gibson about the negative impact of the Chancellor’s increase in alcohol duty on the Scottish economy, which was very unfortunate and unwelcome, I am not sure that the Scottish Government’s track record is so tremendous when it comes to supporting the spirits industry, given the introduction of minimum unit pricing and the plans for alcohol marketing. For example, distilleries would have been unable to advertise tours due to the Government’s draconian proposals. Can the cabinet secretary update us on where exactly we now stand with that?

I note that Murdo Fraser did not raise one of the most significant challenges that the whisky industry faces, which relates to tariffs. I hope that he will join the Scottish Government in endorsing the work of the First Minister and in hoping that the United Kingdom Government does all that it can in its discussions with the US Government on tariffs. He mentioned the scotch whisky industry which, along with American colleagues in the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, is working very hard to ensure that we reduce the threat from tariffs.

A balancing act is to be struck when judging questions around alcohol duties and public health harms. I think that the Scottish Government has got that balance right, and we will do all that we can to deal with threats of tariffs to the likes of the whisky industry. We would be grateful to have the support of all parties in the chamber on that.