Watch Martin Lewis Q&A with Rishi Sunak

greensalad

The £400 and even the £150 loan feel like a drop in the ocean tbh. My energy has gone up £180 a month, so I've clawed back an entire 3 months... hardly feels like it's going to make a difference at all really does it?

007apm

Thankyou Martin, great interview but your influence on the chancellor off air would seem to be more important.  Keep up the good work. 

In some ways the crisis in Ukraine has offered a small insight in to the world post fossil fuel and does highlight the need to incentivise renewables including solar, wind and biomass.  If every home was properly insulated, had some local energy storage (batteries) and where possible made some contribution from self generation, then it would go some way to help protect us all from the energy market. 

Government needs to invest effectively in home insulation schemes and mandate these in the public and private rental sectors.

Whilst Government has gone some way to incentivise micro generation, it is too expensive to install and with the starting price for most installations of about £4000 it is beyond most households.  Government must devise a scheme that makes it free / almost free to install renewable systems and then recoup their investment through the energy generated over a decade or more, sharing the income with the household.  That way government gets much better energy security, we all get a better planet to live on and a little help with our fuel bills.

[Deleted User]

Undisputedtruth said:

People point at Sunak's personal wealth because they feel he is out of touch with their world.

Or you could take a view that it is better to have someone in charge of the Treasury that has a proven track record in finance at a very high level. Putting aside family wealth, Mr Sunak is a well-educated and proven financier. 

The danger of pushing the ‘out of touch’ argument is that it suggests that all MP candidates should be on Universal Credit. That said, there is an undeniable weakness in a political system that allows people to study for a PPE; become an intern; press advisor; SPAD etc and then because their face is known get parachuted into a constituency as a candidate. 

The_Green_Hornet

Undisputedtruth said:

People point at Sunak's personal wealth because they feel he is out of touch with their world.

Every MP is in the top 5 percent of income earners, and that is without including all the other perks they get, and therefore by definition are "out of touch" with the vast majority of the population.

Undisputedtruth

Dolor said:

Or you could take a view that it is better to have someone in charge of the Treasury that has a proven track record in finance at a very high level. Putting aside family wealth, Mr Sunak is a well-educated and proven financier

There's a big difference between running a company and running a country. The style of thinking for a financier such as Rishi Sunak in making money for a company is distinctly different to economic analysis needed in running a country.

Dolor said:

The danger of pushing the ‘out of touch’ argument is that it suggests that all MP candidates should be on Universal Credit. That said, there is an undeniable weakness in a political system that allows people to study for a PPE; become an intern; press advisor; SPAD etc and then because their face is known get parachuted into a constituency as a candidate. 

The suggestion that all MPs should be on Universal Credit is all part of your figment of imagination and your limited understanding of the world. The latter of which is based on your view that a financier can instantly become an economist using the skills gained in business. At the end of the day, MPs have a duty to represent their constituents and Martin Lewis is fully aware of the cost of living crisis. Let's be clear, the cost of living crisis was created by the Tory government and perpetuated by the energy crisis. The help given by this government is limited at a time when my gas bill has more than tripled in the autumn.

zagfles

greensalad said:

The £400 and even the £150 loan feel like a drop in the ocean tbh. My energy has gone up £180 a month, so I've clawed back an entire 3 months... hardly feels like it's going to make a difference at all really does it?

The £150 isn't a loan, see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-rebate-factsheet#do-i-have-to-pay-the-150-back

zagfles

The_Green_Hornet said:

Undisputedtruth said:

People point at Sunak's personal wealth because they feel he is out of touch with their world.

Every MP is in the top 5 percent of income earners, and that is without including all the other perks they get, and therefore by definition are "out of touch" with the vast majority of the population.

It depends whether you think having a different income automatically means you can't understand the situation of those on a different level of income. It's rubbish, it's a bit like saying a doctor who's never had a particular disease can't treat that disease appropriately. Those who are "out of touch" wrt the COL crisis are those who don't understand finance, benefit levels, inflation, wages, costs etc. Sunak clearly does whether or not you agree with his actions.

But it does amuse me when people I know who bang on about identity politics, support fringe political parties and causes etc claim that the most popular political party on average over the last few decades is "out of touch" 

JackMarkham

I am on state pension only. I cannot get pension credit because my wife will not reach pension age thanks to a rule change, for another 4 years. Thus we have to live on my pension alone. DWP and my own MP confirm it. To me, we are a low income household. Will we get the £650?

The_Green_Hornet

zagfles said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

Undisputedtruth said:

People point at Sunak's personal wealth because they feel he is out of touch with their world.

Every MP is in the top 5 percent of income earners, and that is without including all the other perks they get, and therefore by definition are "out of touch" with the vast majority of the population.

It depends whether you think having a different income automatically means you can't understand the situation of those on a different level of income. It's rubbish, it's a bit like saying a doctor who's never had a particular disease can't treat that disease appropriately. Those who are "out of touch" wrt the COL crisis are those who don't understand finance, benefit levels, inflation, wages, costs etc. Sunak clearly does whether or not you agree with his actions.

But it does amuse me when people I know who bang on about identity politics, support fringe political parties and causes etc claim that the most popular political party on average over the last few decades is "out of touch" 

The one thing that amuses me is all these millionaire politicians who claim to be "working class" just because a distant relation was once.

It is like those footballers playing for Ireland just because their granny was born in the emerald isle.

lisyloo

JackMarkham said:

I am on state pension only. I cannot get pension credit because my wife will not reach pension age thanks to a rule change, for another 4 years. Thus we have to live on my pension alone. DWP and my own MP confirm it. To me, we are a low income household. Will we get the £650?

Can you explain why your wife doesn’t work?
you will get more info on what you are entitled to.
I presume you (as a couple) don’t claim any other benefits?

sorry if it sounds intrusive but it’s the only way people can give you correct info as it all tied into the qualifying criteria.

you would get the £400 + £300 so min £700
(on top of your winter fuel allowance)

if she has simply chosen to retire “early” then I don’t think there is anything else 

“early” being before her state pension age

p.s. Mine moved 7 years