Brits face biggest tax hike on gin and whisky since English Civil War unless Jeremy Hunt steps in

BRITS are facing the biggest tax hike on gin and whisky since the English Civil War – unless Jeremy Hunt steps in.

Spirit duties face a 14.2 per cent RPI hike next year- which campaigners say would be the biggest single clobbering since excise duty was first implemented in 1643.

Distillers warn it will see them left with just £3.50 after tax from the average £15.34 bottle of spirits to invest, pay suppliers, wages sand cover all their business costs.

Ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced plans to freeze booze duties from February 2023 at September’s mini-Budget.

But his successor Jeremy Hunt cancelled that when he took over.

Now without an invention from the Treasury, the crippling hike will hit producers and drinkers within months.

Last night the UK Spirits Alliance hit out: “With spirits duty already one of the highest in the world, this is now set to rise to almost 80% per bottle, and will be a 16% tax increase on consumers, at a time when they can least afford it.”