TOP economists accused the Tories of “misleading” voters yesterday about the level of cuts they plan to make if they retain power.

Chancellor George Osborne said that voters are “owed a real explanation of the real choices on offer.”

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Tory plans to eliminate Britain’s £90 billion budget deficit were “predicated on substantial and almost entirely unspecified spending cuts and tax increases.”

The warning was made in the body’s Post-Election Austerity report, launched in London by IFS deputy director Carl Emmerson.

It says: “By providing so much detail on the areas where they plan to increase spending (such as the NHS), while providing no hint of the need for cuts elsewhere, they risk giving a misleading impression of what public service spending under a Conservative government would look like.”

Labour said it proved the Tories are committed to “extreme” cuts that would see NHS funding slashed.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: “The IFS has confirmed that the Tories are committed to the most extreme spending plans of any political party, with bigger cuts than any other advanced economy in the next three years.

“The truth the Tories won’t admit is their plans are so extreme they would end up cutting the NHS.

“Countries which have cut spending on this scale have cut their health service by an average of 1 per cent of GDP — the equivalent of £7bn.”

Mr Osborne was dealt a further blow when the Office for National Statistics revealed the deficit now stands at £87.3bn — £50bn more than the Tory had planned.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said he missed his target “by a country mile” because austerity “failed to get wages growing.”

She added: “The extreme cuts the Conservatives want after the election will kill off the recovery, put wages back in decline and leave our schools, hospitals and other services without the vital revenues they need.”

The SNP had awkward questions to answer in light of the IFS report, which judged there was a “significant disconnect” between its claims to be an anti-austerity party and plans that implied it would be spending less than Labour.