Tax on alcohol and cigarettes rises

By Matt Scuffham and Stefano Ambrogi

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor Alistair Darling raised duty on alcohol and tobacco on Wednesday, prompting the pub industry to say he had signed the "death warrant" for thousands of bars.

"Alcohol duties will go up by 2 percent from midnight tonight and there will be an increase in tobacco duty of two percent from 6pm this evening," Darling said in his second budget.

The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA) said the rise would add some seven pence to a packet of 20 cigarettes.

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) attacked the measures which will add about six pence to a pint of beer, saying they would lead to many more closures,

Pubs are closing at a rate of six a day across Britain, clobbered by recession, smoking bans, rising costs and competition from supermarket bargains.

"Today's Budget signs the death warrant for thousands of Britain's pubs and for tens of thousands of British jobs," the BBPA said.

"In imposing these additional beer taxes, the government has wilfully ignored the views of the public, landlords, consumer groups, industry representatives and MPs from all parties who have been calling for action to save the British pub," it said.

Citing figures from forecasters Oxford Economics, the BBPA says 20,000 jobs have gone across the sector in the last year, with a further 59,000 projected to be lost in the next five years.