He is calling on the UK government to take immediate action
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has warned that “people will die this winter” as Britain braces for untenably high energy bills.
Taking to social media after Ofgem announced a price cap increase of 80 percent, which will see the annual bill shoot up to £3,549 for the average UK household, Lewis issued a stark warning to his followers.
Defending himself against claims of “doom-mongering”, he said that what many have labelled as “catastrophising” has now come true and he believes that if the poorest families don’t get urgent help, “people will die this winter due to unaffordability”.
I've been accused of catastrophising about the energy hikes that have now come true.
Yet let me be plain, 'doom-mongering' or not.
More help is desperately needed for poorest or people will die this winter due to unaffordability of an 80% SO FAR energy price cap hike.
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 26, 2022
Lewis has been highly vocal throughout the current energy and cost of living crisis and was even forced to issue an apology after he called the UK’s energy regulator a “f***ing disgrace” following a previous update from the non-ministerial government department.
Appearing on a number of news programmes following this latest news, the financial guru once again stood his ground over complaints around a BBC Radio 4 broadcast in which he spoke to an 80-year-old lady who said “we’d be better off dead”.
Replying to one of his critics, he simply wrote: “Not sure how much more I could frighten her”.
The pensioner was a pre-record played out BEFORE I spoke. She is the one who said "we'd be better off dead." Not sure how much more I could frighten her.
As for govt help. I hope you're right. Yet it should've been announced at the latest in conjunction with the cap rise. https://t.co/fNMWHw9UNf
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 26, 2022
Speaking during an interview on BBC Breakfast, Lewis went on to say that he is “begging” for the UK government, Ofgem and energy companies themselves to intervene, citing that the £400 energy discount in October is simply no way near enough.
Moreover, he went on to say that allowing people to “stare into the pit of financial doom… without offering them the torch at the end of the tunnel is [also] terrible for people’s mental health”.
“I am begging, I am praying, I am pleading, for more government help.”@MartinSLewis warns people will die this winter as a result of inaction by the Conservative party. pic.twitter.com/pAdN1O4Xkv
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) August 26, 2022
He is now urging people to share his company’s price cap rise calculator, a vital resource which will help individual homes evaluate just how much they will be expected to pay in the coming months.
You can calculate your energy bill below.
New MSE price cap rise calculator. Please share.
As the cap is both regional, and based on standing charge and unit rates. We've built a calculator to ESTIMATE your personal increase – the team has just finished plugging in the data, so its now live.https://t.co/gWUbiLESTv
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) August 26, 2022
Related links
- UK inflation to hit 19 per cent by January, leading investment bank predicts
- Ofgem director resigns over energy price cap hike amid cost of living crisis
- MPs claim £420,000 to pay their energy bills as Brits increasingly struggle with soaring prices
