Soaring inflation pushes interest payments on UK debt to record high in June

Potential for future tax cuts narrows with budget deficit on course to top 100bn this year

Soaring inflation pushed interest payments on UK debt to a record high in June, putting the government's budget deficit on course to reach more than 100bn this year, almost double its pre-pandemic level.

Highlighting the scale of the economic challenge that will face the next prime minister, debt interest payments hit 19.4bn last month alone, the highest since monthly records began in April 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.