Alistair Darling was yesterday forced into a U-turn on alcohol duty after the Treasury miscalculated the strength of Scotch whisky and of its trade lobby, write Andrew Bolger and Roger Blitz .

The chancellor said in the pre-Budget report on Monday that he was raising alcohol duties by 8 per cent to offset the temporary cut in value added tax. But yesterday the Treasury laid an order before parliament to reduce that rise to 4 per cent for spirits.