IFS: 'Forecasts are always wrong'

Wages will not have risen in real terms for more than a decade

OBR forecast threatens major Government split

Hammond denies borrowing is out of control

Eurosceptics attack 'doom and gloom' Autumn Statement

Hammond: UK prepared for possible economic slowdown

There is "more uncertainty than ever before" about the Office for Budget Responsibility's gloomy Brexit warnings, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said.

The IFS also warned that wages will not have risen in real terms for more than a decade in a downturn not seen since the aftermath of World War II.

They predicted that in 2021 wages will still not be as high as they were in 2008 as it criticised the "dreadful" impact on workers.

It came as Robert Chote, the Chairman of the OBR, acknowledged in an interview with the Financial Times that “forecasts are always wrong”.

Paul Johnson, the head of the IFS, also said that there will be an additional "dollop" of austerity after the next General Election.

Mr Johnson said: "There is more uncertainty than ever around these forecasts. They will not be accurate, I don't know how inaccurate they will be.

"The OBR has been dealt an almost impossible hand in terms of making a forecast post 2019. It clearly matters whether we have a hard or soft Brexit. They seem to have taken a very broad brush average."

He said that despite Theresa May's pledge to focus on those who are "just about managing, known as the "jams", Philip Hammond had instead chosen to invest more than £20billion on infrastructure in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

Mr Johnson also said that Mr Hammond will not be able to ignore calls to spend more on the NHS and social care for much longer.

Speaking today the Chancellor defended his Autumn Statement and said millions of new jobs had been created.

Howevr, he admitted that there was an "unusually high degree of uncertainty" around official forecasters warnings of a £60 billion Brexit bill.

Speaking during a visit to Gloucestershire, Mr Hammond said he had tried to use the Autumn Statement to prepare the economy "for as wide a range of outcomes as I possibly can" after the Brexit vote - including a possible downturn next year.