Money saving expert Martin Lewis has branded the energy crisis a "catastrophe" and hit back at MP Edwina Curry.
Lewis took to Twitter this morning to invite both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - the two candidates to be the next Conservative Prime Minister - on his ITV show. But former MP and Minister for Health, Edwina Currie, waded into the row, as she urged Lewis to "stop pretending that governments can do everything".
Ms Currie said: "I would like you, Martin, to stop using words like 'catastrophe', and instead advise people take sensible steps to reduce the effect on their families and businesses. And stop pretending that governments can do everything. They can’t."
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But Mr Lewis responded "It is a catastrophe Edwina! While there are steps people can take to help themselves (I explain them in todays email http://mse.me/latesttip ) Energy bills by Jan will cost on avg over half the full state pension & bigger proportion of basic UC. No sensible steps cover that!"
Ofgem announced last week that the energy price cap for households across the UK would rise once again in October, leaving many concerned that they will be unable to pay energy bills. It announced last week that it will rise again, pushing the energy bill for the average household in the UK from from £1,971 up to £3,549. By early next year, following the next price cap, costs are expected to rise once again to over £5,000.
Households have been told to brace themselves for tough times throughout the winter, with the cost-of-living crisis meaning that along with energy bills, petrol and other household items will rise in price.
And today, Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, even warned that people on £50,000 a year will struggle to pay their energy bills. Sir Keir made the comments defending his plans for universal help with energy bills, rather than targeting the poorest households.
Labour revealed their £29 billion plan to freeze energy bills across the UK on 14 August, claiming people are "worried sick" about paying their energy bills.
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Sir Keir told Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine: “I think if you’re on £50 grand you’re going to really struggle with £4,000 on your energy bills.
“I think there will be many people watching who accept ‘I’m not the hardest-up, I’ve got a decent wage, but £4,000 on my energy bills is more than I can afford’.”
He said: “If you apply it to everyone, it helps bring inflation down by 4% because energy prices push up inflation.”
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