World Cup drinking boosts UK Treasury

The summer heatwave and World Cup party atmosphere contributed £300 million in alcohol duty to the UK’s public coffers as the public sector recorded its biggest surplus for nearly 20 years.

The amount drunk during the recent scorching weather and footballing tournament has given a £300m boost to the taxman said the Treasury.

Revenues from duty are up by 7.4%, and have helped drive the biggest July surplus for 18 years.

Public sector borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, was in the black by £2 billion – more than the £1.1bn forecast by economists and £1.6bn more than was recorded in July 2017 as well as being the highest since 2000.

Self-assessed income tax also added greatly to the total.

Public sector net debt continued to climb however, increasing £17.5bn to £1,777.5bn.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss said: “The warm weather and the World Cup was a winning combination, and we have been able to make even more progress repairing the public finances and bringing the debt down.

“We cannot put our feet up. We must keep debt falling to build a stronger economy and secure a brighter future for the next generation.”