asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of GDP was represented by the total of all forms of Government revenue for each year since 1970; and what comparable figures he has for Germany, France, the United States of America and Japan.
The following table shows estimates of total current receipts of general—central plus local—government as a percentage of gross domestic product in purchasers' values for the United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, Japan and France. Figures for 1970 to 1973 are shown for all countries except Japan and France, and are derived from the publication "National Accounts of OECD Countries, 1962–1973." Figures for Japan and France were derived from the 1961–1972 edition of the same publication. Figures for the United Kingdom are calculated from returns made to the OECD on the same basis and are consistent with the Blue Book "National Income and Expenditure 1963–73".
Spirits duty is paid on release of whisky from bond after it has matured for at least three years. Matured whisky from Islay's eight distilleries is mainly sent to bonded warehouses on the mainland for blending with whiskies from many other sources. Since no differentiation between the sources of blended whisky is made when duty is paid it is not possible to say how much is attributable to the Island of Islay.