The cost-of-living rise coming next month is “the worst” crisis Brits have faced in 22 years including Covid and the financial crash, according to Martin Lewis.
The Money Saving Expert warned there is "absolute panic" over the "catastrophic" rise in energy bills which will come into place on April 1. In a desperate plea, he urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more help to the poorest ahead of Wednesday’s Spring Statement.
Mr Sunak today hinted he could cut fuel duty and did not rule out tweaking income tax or National Insurance thresholds to give people more of their money. He revealed he has set up a cost of living unit in the Treasury - amid suggestions he could raise the £150 council tax rebate or £200 repayable discount off energy bills.
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He also claimed he would be lowering taxes by 2024 - after raising the tax burden to its highest in 70 years, the Mirror reports.
Mr Lewis said the 54pc or £693 rise in energy bills in April will be “catastrophic” and Britain is already more than a quarter of the way through assessing another rise on October 1. That rise looks set to be “at least another £600 a year”, which will add £1,300 to bills across this year in total as 10 million people are in fuel poverty, he told the BBC ’s Sunday Morning.
He said: “I’ve been Money Saving Expert since 2000. I’ve been through the financial crash, I’ve been through Covid which was mitigated by some of the measures the Chancellor put in place. When I’m reading messages from people saying money prioritisation used to be ‘do I go to the hairdressers, or do I go to the pub and have a takeaway’.
“Now it’s about prioritising ‘feeding my children over feeding myself’. That is simply not tenable in our society and there is absolute panic - and it has not started yet.”
In a direct plea to Mr Sunak, he said: “As the Money Saving Expert who’s been known for this - I am virtually out of tools to help people now. It’s not something money management can fix.
“It’s not something for those in the lowest incomes, telling them to cut their bills will work. We need political intervention.”
Rishi Sunak is not expected to announce major changes to his policies in Wednesday’s Spring Statement despite National Insurance rising, tax and student loan thresholds being frozen, and energy bills soaring by £693 a year. Moments before Mr Lewis’ intervention, he insisted people "should feel confident about the strength of our economy".
He told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "The fundamentals of our economy are really good because we've recovered well, because of the actions we've taken, but look, the outlook is uncertain... because of what's happening in Ukraine."
Conservative MP Robert Halfon said it was "absolutely vital" the Government cut fuel duty to ease the cost of living crisis. Asked about action on fuel duty, Mr Sunak said: "Obviously I can't comment on specific things.
“But what I would say, I understand that, I have a rural constituency, people are incredibly reliant on their cars and this is one of the biggest bills that people face, watching it go up, right, we're all seeing that, when we're filling up our cars. I get that, that's why we've frozen fuel duty already, I announced that in autumn, it's the 11th consecutive year of fuel duty freezes and that really helps people, I know that."
On the cost of living, Mr Sunak said "where we can make a different of course we will", but warned "the actions and steps we're taking to sanction Russia are not cost-free for us here at home". He said: "I know this is the number one thing that people are concerned about, and people are working hard, they're struggling with the price of things going up, I get that. I'm spending all my time focused on that.
"I want people to know, and they should be reassured, that I will stand by them in the same way that I have done over the last couple of years to try and make a difference where I can, but as you said the actions and steps we're taking to sanction Russia are not cost-free for us here at home. I can't pretend that it's going to easy, that Government can solve every challenge or that I can completely protect people against some of the difficult times ahead,
"But what I can say is where we can make a different of course we will, that's what we've done over the past two years, and most recently you saw that with our announcement to help people with energy bills - £9 billion, £350 of support to people, they'll get £150 of that in April. So look, where we can make a difference of course we will, but I get that this is difficult."
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