Energy bills: Fuel cost hike puts pressure on families amid unprecedented £700 rise

Money saving expert Martin Lewis has shared top tips to help drivers save thousands of pounds on fuel, writes Maryam Zakir-Hussain.

Mr Lewis estimates that for someone who drives 15,000 miles a year averaging 35 miles per gallon (12.4 km/L), just buying petrol at the average UK price would cost £2,963 annually as of March 2022. Cutting this by 25% could save £741/year.

Here are the money saving expert’s top tips, produced with the help of the RAC, on how to make your fuel money last longer.

43-year-old Bablu, who only gave his first name, owns a hairdressers across from Goodmayes station in Ilford, writes Maryam Zakir-Hussain.

He told The Independent: “Everything is up, rent is up, electric is up. There’s no happiness left, nothing.

“Business has gone down, there’s too much stress here.

“The government has only helped with rent, but not my food. Redbridge council gives me £10,000 to help with 6 months of rent but that’s nothing. My rent is £1250 a month.

“Electric, water, council tax, building charges- I have to pay all that myself.

“Sometimes I think of closing my business and just going somewhere.”

When asked how he is managing with food costs, he said: “Sometimes I eat, sometimes I don’t.”

He cannot afford to go to the food bank because he doesn’t have anyone to cover for him and doesn’t want to risk missing customers.

Disability charity Scope has warned that the government needs to “get a grip of this crisis” amid research showing that rising household bills are impacting disabled people’s mental and physical health.

James Taylor, strategy director at Scope, said: “For many disabled people facing this enormous hike in energy prices, there is simply nothing left to cut back.

“Life costs more if you’re disabled. Lots of disabled people have no choice but to use more energy to charge vital equipment and stay warm. Many have already been cutting back for months

“Scope’s research shows that half of disabled people whose household bills have increased in the past few months have seen their health and mental health get worse.

“Instead of support, many disabled people are now facing a real-terms drop in income, because the government has refused to increase benefits in line with current inflation.

“The government needs to get a grip of this crisis and provide direct financial support to disabled people and increase benefits in line with inflation.

“Anything less will end up pushing millions more disabled households into poverty.”

City of Westminster Police have said that Whitehall was temporarily closed while “officers investigated a report of a suspicious package”, but the incident has now been stood down.

Some staff were reportedly evacuated from Whitehall while officers investigated.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said that it was in the public interest to ask questions about Rishi Sunak’s wife and her investments.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Mr Starmer said: “So far as the chancellor’s wife is concerned, there’s just a fundamental question of principle here which is, is their household benefiting from money made in Russia when the government has put in place sanctions? That is in the public interest for us to have an answer to.”

He insisted that he was not attacking the Chancellor’s family but added: “I do want to know, is the chancellor’s household benefiting from money from a company that’s investing in Russia when the government is saying, quite rightly, that nobody should be doing that?”

The first Partygate fines handed out by police relate to a leaving do for a Cabinet Office official in June 2020, according to reports.

Staff who attended the bash are understood to have received £50 fixed penalty notices by email, writes Political Editor Andrew Woodcock.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Tuesday that they have referred an initial tranche of 20 Partygate cases for fixed penalties.

But police refused to reveal who was being fined or give details of the breaches of coronavirus laws involved.

Read more here:

First minister Nicola Sturgeon has described the current cost of living crisis as “of a bigger magnitude than most of us have ever known in our lifetime”.

Speaking at an event in Glasgow’s Queen Street Station, Ms Sturgeon said: “We need the Chancellor and the Prime Minister to wake up to this crisis and do much more to help people than has been done so far.”

“We traditionally talk when we talk about poverty about people choosing between eating and heating,” she told journalists.

“There are people across the UK right now that will not be able to do either properly.”

She added: “The interventions of the UK Government thus far are woefully inadequate. So for the sake of the lives of people across the country, it is time to do more and to do it really quickly.”

Police forces are working together to tackle the Just Stop Oil protests that have targeted oil terminals across the UK, the National Police Chiefs Council has said.

Activists forced oil giant Exxon Mobil to temporarily suspend operations at some of its sites, and at least six people have been arrested by Essex Police.

Chief Constable Chris Noble said: “There are multiple protests targeting oil terminals across the country. Police forces are closely coordinating their responses and sharing information, with the overriding priority of resolving each incident as quickly and as safely as possible.”

He added: “The ability to protest peacefully in a democracy is important but it is also important there are consequences for those who break the law. We will take necessary action against anyone who deliberately chooses to act outside the law, and this can include pre-emptive action where there is information and cause to do so.”

The policing minister has appeared to back the view of two Cabinet colleagues in stating that the issuing of partygate fines is evidence that police believe the law was broken in Number 10, writes Patrick Daly.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and International Trade Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan both accepted this week that coronavirus rules had been breached in Downing Street after the first batch of fines were ordered in relation to the Metropolitan Police probe.

Speaking on Friday, Kit Malthouse, a minister in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, said it is fair to say a fixed-penalty notice (FPN) signals police feel an unlawful act has been committed.

Read more here:

The Insolvency Service has launched a criminal investigation into P&O’s sacking of nearly 800 seafarers.

Transport secretary announced the news on Twitter, saying: “The Insolvency Service has reviewed P&O Ferries’ actions and placed it under criminal investigation for its actions.

“Peter Hebblethwaite stood before MPs and admitted to breaking the law, and his actions must now be scrutinised.”