Dozens of dons today hit out at "commonplace" claims that "informed people oppose Brexit".

A coalition of leading academics, including economists, lawyers, historians, scientists, and a former head of MI6, warn against "divisive" attempts to associate supporters of Britain's departure from the EU with "low levels of education and information".

The academics, including individuals from both sides of the referendum debate, have formed a new group, Briefings for Brexit, which aims to counter the claims with "serious evidence and reasoned arguments".

It is led by Dr Graham Gudgin, an honorary research associate at the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge's Judge Business School, and Professor Robert Tombs, a Cambridge historian, and includes Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, who was master of Pembroke college, Cambridge, until 2015, and Lord Glasman, the Labour peer and political theorist.

A "mission statement" for the new group states: "It has become commonplace to associate support for Brexit with low levels of education and information, and to claim that reason and evidence inevitably lead to a pro-EU view. This is simply not true.