Conservative minister Andrea Leadsom is adamant that there is absolutely no economic shock in store for Britain if it leaves the European Union. The energy minister, who worked in finance for over two decades before entering politics, is furious with "scaremongering" from her pro-Remain Tory colleagues, especially the chancellor, and wants to set the record straight.

BuzzFeed News is meeting Leadsom – one of the most high-profile Leave campaigners – in her Westminster office just over a week before the 23 June referendum and the day before the tragic death of Labour MP Jo Cox. George Osborne, her former boss in the Treasury, has just warned that big spending cuts and tax hikes would be needed to fill a £30 billion black hole in the event of Brexit.

But Leadsom is having none of it. She says the situation is "nothing like" the "systemic crises" of the 2008 global financial crisis or 1992’s Black Wednesday. "I just don’t accept the premise that we have any economic issue with voting to leave, I think it’s absolutely balanced," she says.

"I just don’t see any systemic issue whatsoever – so I don’t believe any emergency Budget is needed. Unfortunately I think it’s a tactic in the campaign to try and scare people into voting to stay, which I think is a great shame because it’s not an honest reflection of reality."

Pressed on whether she believes Brexit would have *any* short-term impact on Britain's economy, Leadsom replies: "Nobody has a crystal ball and if there is a short-term economic impact we have to say, 'What does that mean?' What it normally would mean is that sterling might go down, and if sterling goes down, that’s great news for exports.

"But as I say, sterling has really not moved since the prime minister announced the starting gun for the referendum. So my best expectation, with my 30 years of financial experience, is that there will not be an economic impact."