Government borrowing rises in September

Government borrowing rose in September from a year earlier.

Borrowing - the difference between spending and tax income - was £20bn last month, up £2.2bn from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said.

The figure is the second highest September borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.

It comes as the UK borrows billions of pounds to limit energy bill rises for households and businesses.

However, borrowing last month was lower than in September 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when the government was borrowing to fund schemes such as furlough.