Patrick Salmon, the Foreign Office historian who compiled the volume of papers published on Friday as German Unification 1989-1990: Documents on British Policy Overseas Section III Volume VII, says Mrs Thatcher's trenchant objections made little practical difference.

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While these, along with single-malt Scotches, still make up only a small section of the whiskey market by volume, they comprise the fastest growing section, and by far the most profitable.

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For the TSE 1st section, trading volume will see its third year of decline to the lowest level in six years.

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