Budget tax hikes even more likely after huge jump in June borrowing

City forecasters were caught by surprise by the scale of public borrowing last month (Alamy/PA) -

Government borrowing shot up to £20.7 billion last month highlighting the challenge facing Rachel Reeves in bringing the public finances back under control.

The worse than expected total was the highest deficit on record for June excluding the pandemic and £6.6 billion more than in June last year.