Martin Lewis warns of energy bill crisis on ‘scale of the pandemic’
"When you know there’s a crisis of magnificent proportions coming, you start dealing with it now"
Martin Lewis has described soaring energy bills as a “national crisis” on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Money Saving Expert delivered a stark warning on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today (10 August), in which he urged the “zombie” government to take action.
“When you know there’s a crisis of magnificent proportions coming, you start dealing with it now,” he said. “What we are facing right now is a financial emergency that risks lives.”
Yesterday, it was revealed that annual energy bills are expected to reach £4,200 from January.
“If we had a volcano that was exploding in the UK right now, I would be very surprised if the Government said it can’t call a Cobra meeting and can’t get something done on the back of it because we haven’t got working government,” Lewis continued, referring to Boris Johnson’s rejection of former PM Gordon Brown’s calls for an emergency meeting.
“What we’re facing here is a financial emergency that risks lives,” Lewis added, emphasising that Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak need to do something soon.
In May the government announced some financial support with the soaring cost of living, including a £400 discount on energy bills for all UK households, and an additional £650 for more than eight million lower-income households.
Lewis also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If [the chancellor] is going to be consistent, he will need to double every number in that package.”
Lewis has been advising people how to save cash on everything from switching energy providers to credit cards since 2000, but has repeatedly stated in recent months that he is out of ideas. “I’ve been through the financial crash. I’ve been through Covid… This is the worst,” he told BBC’s Sunday Morning before the government’s March Spring Statement.
“As the Money Saving Expert, I am virtually out of tools to help people now,” he said. “It’s not something money management can fix. It’s not something with those on the lowest incomes, [that] telling them to [tighten] their belts will work. We need political intervention.”