Imperial Tobacco chief executive Alison Cooper has criticised the UK government’s plans to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes as “anti-business”.

Cooper has written to the government expressing concern about remarks by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley that the government wants tobacco companies to have "no business" in the UK.
“It’s not just a tobacco issue any more, it’s about government’s role…[and] a precedent for other businesses in terms of this is where governments can go,” Cooper told the Financial Times. “This is not about a health issue at all. This is anti-business.”
The comments represent the most direct criticism yet by a tobacco company boss of the government’s plain packaging consultation, launched last month.
Tobacco companies mounted a legal challenge against similar plans in Australia, the result of which is expected within the next few months. When asked if the industry would do the same in the UK, Cooper said: "It's absolutely something we would challenge but I'm really hoping we don't get to that."
It is estimated that 70,000 Britons are directly or indirectly employed by the tobacco industry and that the Treasury raises between GBP 10.5 billion (EUR 13 billion) and GBP 12.5 billion per annum from tax revenues. (pi)