Record UK borrowing puts Jeremy Hunt in a tax cut dilemma

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has little room for manoeuvre over funding tax cuts after borrowing hit £139bn. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

In only three years since modern records began in 1946 has the government borrowed more than was required to balance the books in the latest financial year. Even taking account of inflation, £139bn is a lot of money.

Predictably enough, that was the message from Jeremy Hunt after the release of the latest data for the public finances. Heavy borrowing had been the right thing to do in the face of two global shocks – the pandemic and the war in Ukraine – but it was not something that could go on for ever, he opined.