George Osborne set to meet deficit target after rise in tax receipts

Government borrowing fell to 6.9bn in February, taking the total this year to 81.8bn

The UK chancellor was handed a pre-election boost after a jump in self-assessed tax receipts triggered the smallest February deficit in seven years, putting him on course to meet his full-year target.

British workers paid 4.2bn in self-assessed income tax last month, 1.8bn more than the same month last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.