VOTERS are crying out for hard facts but the EU referendum debate is being swamped by claims, disputed numbers and downright nonsense.

The old adage about lies, damn lies and statistics could hardly be more appropriate.

It is nothing new for political factions to differ over their interpretation of figures. But the way in which Remain and Leave camps disagree on every single point must be leaving voters' heads spinning. Who can you trust?

Most of the evidence suggests that we would be worse off in the short term if we choose to leave. But the scenario in the decades ahead is much harder to predict.

Both sides have been guilty of spin, but the Leave campaign in particular seems to be happy to play fast and loose with the truth as they bid to convince undecided voters in the closing weeks of the campaign. Even the message splashed in large letters across the Vote Leave battlebus: “We send the EU £350m a week” has proven to be a wild exaggeration as it fails to count the money we get back in rebates and grants.

Yesterday leading figures in the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union said they wanted to be able to scrap VAT on fuel to help the poorest households.

Tories Michael Gove and Boris Johnson and Labour's Gisela Stuart said that the tax on energy bills cannot be scrapped because of EU rules.

But Chancellor George Osborne accused them of "fantasy land" economics.

There is one week left to register to vote in the EU referendum on June 23.

We urge anyone who has not yet done so to make sure they have a say in one of the biggest decisions that will be put before us in our lifetime.

The way you vote, however, is more likely to be based on gut feeling and instinct rather than a sober of the facts at hand.

The Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow has said he cannot remember a “worse-tempered or more abusive, more boring UK campaign” than that for the EU referendum.