New whisky tax 'would raise £1bn for Scotland' Prof Kay, who advocates a £1 per bottle charge, said the benefits going to Scotland from recent export success, notably to emerging markets in South America and Africa, had been "disappointing." He makes the claim in a BBC Scotland programme Scotched Earth being broadcast on Wednesday. Sir George is the former chairman of Mr Salmond's economic advisers and was previously chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland. He said a 50p per bottle tax may lead to higher prices but argued that "would not be a major percentage of the sales price." "It would seem to me there's room there for something," he said. I don't believe it [the industry] would be substantially harmed and I believe that the success could be spread around a little more. The industry is angrily resisting the move. Peter Lederer, director of Diageo, the drinks giant, which has headquarters in London and is also listed on the New York stock exchange, said a new tax would send the wrong signals to those thinking of investing in the Scottish economy. He said: "If the argument in an economy is to take a successful business and keep taxing it because it's successful, [that] gives the wrong impression." Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said that Scottish-made whisky is competing in tough international markets, where it is up against other whiskies and spirits. He told the programme: "I cannot see why any government would apply a production tax which would make Scotch whisky less competitive overseas against other drinks which are cheaper to produce and cheaper to sell. We have already enjoyed over a billion pounds of investment into Scotland in the last four years. I will put my head on the block now and say that we're going to enjoy £2 billion of investment in the Scotch whisky industry in the next three to four years. Scotched Earth is to be broadcast on Wednesday at 10.35pm.