Money expert: Many politicians know nothing

Consumer champion Martin Lewis has claimed many politicians are “financially illiterate” as families struggle with the cost of living crisis.

Lewis, 50, the founder of Moneysavingexpert.com, said he was almost in tears as he waited to hear if the new prime minister had any plan to alleviate the predicted vast energy bills.

He said: “There are many politicians who are simply totally ignorant about how the practicals work. Having given evidence to copious select committees and met so many ministers, the ones I admire are the ones who honestly say, ‘Explain this to me’.

“I’m not tribal – I’m a campaigner. And if you want the government to listen it isn’t productive to call people names. I have not universally voted for the same party at every election. I judge on merit and policies.”

Last month, he corrected Liz Truss’s statement that energy bills would be capped at £2,500, leading many to believe they would not pay more no matter how much fuel they used. He also worked with Nadine Dorries when she was culture secretary on the Online Safety Bill, ensuring social media companies banned paid-for scam adverts.

He added: “Earlier this year I was genuinely nauseous with worry. I was warning we were heading for a catastrophe. When I talked about it on television I was struggling not to have tears in my eyes. I was genuinely concerned about the number of excess deaths this winter due to heating and eating issues, that we were heading for civil unrest.

“There was so much fear about what was coming. People were asking me ‘What am I going to do?’ and I had zero answers.”