‘Brexit could cost a month’s pay’

Leaving the European Union will cost British workers the equivalent of a month’s pay by the end of the decade, a leading international economic body has warned.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the impact of Brexit would be akin to imposing a tax on UK national income — creating a “persistent and rising cost” to the economy.

The warning came as Chancellor George Osborne said a slowing of economic growth in the first three months of 2016 — down to 0.4% from 0.6% the previous quarter according to the ONS — showed fears of a Leave vote were “weighing on our economy”.