CUTS to public spending would continue until at least 2020 if Britain leaves the EU, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) claimed yesterday.

The think tank said that breaking with Brussels would save about £8 billion a year rather than the £350 million a week the Leave campaign claims.

But it said that would be offset by a contraction in the economy which would require the government to borrow between £20bn and £40bn extra. IFS director Paul Johnson said: “Getting to budget-balance from there, as the government desires, would require an additional year or two of austerity at current rates of spending cuts.”