That Mr Bush finally prevailed, and not Al Gore, is a cause for celebration in the tobacco giants of America and Britain. The hostility from Washington over the past eight years should begin to ease.

Mr Gore would surely have kept up maximum pressure on the companies, both through policy action and legal assaults. But Mr Bush is expected to treat the industry with "benign neglect". Shares in most of the big companies have risen sharply on that prospect.

Most important, a Bush administration is expected to allow a potentially devastating anti-racketeering lawsuit now being pursued by the Justice Department against the industry to fade away. The suit was to have gone to trial in about two years' time.

A London analyst said yesterday: "The Bush victory means there's very little prospect of future litigation against tobacco." British American Tobacco, which owns Brown & Williamson, a US cigarette maker, is among the companies sighing with relief.

Tobacco shares have been risingsince election day on 7 November, when a Bush victory seemed likely. RJ Reynolds stock has leapt 34 per cent. Philip Morris shares have risen 17 per cent in New York.

Stan Glantz, an anti-smoking activist, said: "It is bad news for us, and it's party time for tobacco." The courts, though, are still packed with private lawsuits against the cigarette companies. Mr Bush cannot do much about them.

© 2000 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd.

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