Shock borrowing rise is a new blow to Osborne despite fall in inflation

Chancellor George Osborne faced another blow to deficit-busting efforts today with more gloom on borrowing as the UK’s slide back into recession hit the Treasury’s coffers.

The shock rise in borrowing to £13.8 billion in April came after two major one-offs — a £28 billion surplus from the Royal Mail’s pension scheme and £2.3 billion from the wrapping up of the Bank’s Special Liquidity Scheme to support the banking sector — were stripped out of the figures.

The surge is nearly £5 billion higher than the £9.1 billion seen 12 months earlier, putting immediate pressure on efforts to hit the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s £120 billion borrowing target for the new financial year....This is London