There were few toasts to the tax on fun last night after the Chancellor added 7p a litre to the duty on champagne and sparkling wine.

The increases come into force at midnight on Sunday. The tax on bubbles even extended to sparkling cider, which will go up by 5p a litre. But Gordon Brown won praise for helping smokers to quit by cutting VAT on nicotine patches and gum, from 17.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

Health campaigners were disappointed, however, that the extra tax on a packet of 20 cigarettes was only 11p, in line with inflation, rather than the 19p that had been demanded by Action on Smoking and Health. The British Heart Foundation that said the increase in tobacco duty was “brilliant” but called for patches and gum to be sold alongside cigarettes.

Duty on spirits was frozen for the tenth consecutive year. But the pub trade criticised the extra penny on a pint of beer, and condemned a tax policy that it said could drive people to stronger alcoholic drinks. The British Beer and Pub Association said that beer consumption had dropped by 11 per cent since Labour had been in power and predicted a grim future for the trade from July 1, when the smoking ban comes into force.

Mark Hastings, its spokesman, said: “The Chancellor has chosen to batter beer and favour stronger alcoholic drinks. The trade is already in trouble. Just this week Punch Taverns announced it is selling 1,000 pubs. This shows how much pressure a smoking ban is going to have on the sector.”

He said that since 1997 duty on beer had increased by 23 per cent whereas that on spirits had risen by only 3 per cent.

Mike Benner, spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale, said that pubs were closing at a rate of 56 a week and had been denied a lifeline.

British wine industry leaders were dismayed that Mr Brown had failed to lower the disparity on taxes between still and sparkling wines. Jeremy Beadle, of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “This is a very serious hike in what is an anomalous position. The idea that you can tax a product because it has a bubble in it makes no sense.

“It dates back to Napoleonic times when we needed to rebuild our Royal Navy, and so to raise the cash a tax was put on champagne so we could fight the French. This should have gone years ago.”

Home-produced sparkling wines have the fastest-growing sales in the sector and some are now beating champagnes in international competitions.

Frazer Thompson, managing director of Chapel Down Wines, said: “The extra 7p on sparkling is exasperating, especially as there’s nothing on spirits or alcopops. It beggars belief. We are getting knocked just at a moment when there is a growth in English wine and we are helping to develop a foodie culture in the regions.

“We don’t even understand why sparkling has this extra tax. The bubbles just mean a wine has had a secondary fermentation. He could have given us a tax break for propping up rural communities.”

A spokesman for the National Association of Cider Makers said: “We have been trying to build up a sustainable industry — we certainly prop up the rural economy and use 45 per cent of all British-produced apples for cider.”

Alcohol Concern, however, said that the duties did not go far enough. A spokesman said: “Alcohol is 54 per cent more affordable than in 1980 and this shows that the Treasury is unwilling to deal with some of the difficult questions we face on how to cut alcohol harm.”

Duty changes

Pack of 20 cigarettes +11p

Pack of five cigars +4p

25g rolling tobacco +11p

25g pipe, other smoking and chewing tobacco +7p

(From 6pm last night)

Pint of beer Pint of cider +1p

Litre of sparkling cider +5p

Litre of wine +5p

Litre of sparkling wine or champagne +7p

(From midnight, Sunday)

Duty on spirits: no change

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