Record budget surplus strengthens Philip Hammond's hand ahead of Brexit

• Surplus of £14.9bn in January is biggest on record
• Government borrowing is at lowest level in 17 years
• FTSE 100 slips 0.4pc as trade tensions dominate on markets
• More factories could close as world enters ‘industrial recession’, economists warn
• Did the CMA really 'move the goalposts' in its scrutiny of Sainsbury's-Asda?
• Minimum wage rises may prompt firms to switch to zero-hours jobs

The Government delivered a record budget surplus in January, strengthening chancellor Philip Hammond's hand ahead of the Spring Statement and Brexit.

A surplus of £14.9bn in January, the largest since records began in 1993, put public sector borrowing on track to comfortably undershoot the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts. Borrowing in the financial year-to-date is at its lowest level in 17 years.

A bumper round of tax receipts helped the surplus climb by £5.6bn compared to last January, a crucial month for the Treasury's coffers. The ONS said that self-assessed income tax and capital gains tax receipts were £3.1bn higher than last January, making up the bulk of the increase.

Borrowing in the financial year-to-date has nearly halved compared to last year and is 40pc lower than the OBR's forecast.

The chancellor now has "headroom of at least £15bn" and Mr Hammond will have "plenty of scope to support growth" in a no deal Brexit, said Thomas Pugh of Capital Economics. The chancellor's Spring Statement is expected to be a low-key event as he builds a war chest to tackle a possible economic downturn after Brexit.