Martin Lewis - latest: Money expert warns parents about getting into debt for Christmas

The Martin Lewis Money Show Live is over for this evening. Thanks for following The Independent’s live coverage, goodnight.

The new series of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live is set to be broadcast tonight as Britons confront the sky-high cost of living.

Starting today, the hit show will be broadcast on ITV every Tuesday from 8pm to 9pm.

The programme is now into its 12th series and celebrating its 10-year anniversary on the air.

Tonight’s episode promises to showcase “must-knows to prepare for the months ahead” as families face staggering hikes in household bills.

Also in store is “The Big Briefing, a News You Can Use catch-up.” Mr Lewis will also answers questions regarding viewers’ “most pressing money matters.”

Martin Lewis has issued a stark Black Friday warning to shoppers preparing to pile their baskets high with heavily discounted items in the pre-Christmas sales.

“This is my Black Friday memo...” he wrote on Twitter, alongside an image of a post-it note emblazoned with the advice: “If you were going to buy it anyway and it’s half price, you’ve saved 50 per cent. If you weren’t going to buy it, but do because it’s half price you’ve wasted 100 per cent.”

The annual consumer event is derived from the post-Thanksgiving US tradition. It often marks one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and sparks vehement criticism for its encouragement of over-consumption and potential to inflict significant environmental damage.

As the UK battles with a nightmarish cost of living crisis defined by soaring double-digit inflation, climbing energy bills, rent and grocery prices, interest rate hikes and mortgage market chaos, there is one person the public has some to rely on for guidance above any other.

Step forward consumer champion Martin Lewis, a tireless advocate for the up-against-it; dispenser of sage, practical and compassionate advice and a rare constant in public life at a time of “permacrisis” in Britain.

The country may have seen three different prime ministers, four chancellors and two monarchs since the start of July but Lewis is still out there, raging against the government, Ofgem and greedy utility companies, with no domestic issue too small to escape his expert eye.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

The government has warned that a “small proportion” of automated cost of living payments could fail as millions of Britons entitled to a £650 grant start to receive their second tranche of support.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said this could be due to the wrong bank or building society account details being held on file by the department or by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It could also affect those who provide details of an account that has been closed.

The two government departments have tempered concern, however, reassuring beneficiaries they have “robust processes in place to ensure that all eligible claimants will receive their payments, with manual workarounds in place if necessary”.

More details from this story here:

More resources for social housing are required, the chairman of the Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has urged, after the death of toddler Awaab Ishak, who suffered prolonged exposure to mould.

Labour MP Clive Betts told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “We can’t ignore the problem of resources for social housing providers.

“In 2010 social housing had the biggest cuts to its programmes of any part of government, and since then we’ve had the problems of post-Grenfell, of cladding and building safety.

“Social housing providers have been asked to provide all those extra work, to solve those problems with no extra resources.

“There are major challenges around.

“Improvements to housing, improving insulation, improving heating systems, making them more energy efficient, so at this challenging time for the cost of living, people can actually afford to switch them on, is a major issue that the government should be addressing.”

The number of children in low-income families receiving Universal Credit has risen to four million, analysis of new official data shows.

That figure is half a million more than the same time last year, according to the statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The rise comes as The Independent’s Feed the Future campaign calls for the government to help more children with free school meals by including those on Universal Credit, who are currently exempt from the scheme.

Zoe Tidman reports:

Rishi Sunak said inflation is the “enemy we have to face down” when asked about new figures showing Britain’s rate of unemployment edging higher.

The PM told ITV in Bali, where he is attending the G20 summit: “I think what today’s figures show is that the enemy we have to face down is inflation.

“That’s what’s making people poorer, that’s what’s driving up the cost of living and everyone’s bills that they’re opening every week, every month.

“I want to make sure that we get a grip of inflation, reduce it, and that’s why the chancellor’s statement is so important, because it will put our public finances on a sustainable trajectory which will help us grip inflation, it will help us limit the increase in mortgage rates.

“And that’s why we need to do what we’re going to do.”

The PM was at pains to point out that inflation is a global challenge, saying: “That’s very much the conversation we’re having here at the G20.”

Council tax will go up following this week’s crucial autumn statement but the wealthy will feel most of the pain, Jeremy Hunt has suggested.

The chancellor rejected a Labour plea to hold down bills – as the Conservative 2019 election manifesto promised – insisting some “very difficult announcements” are unavoidable on Thursday.

“We are going to be asking everyone to contribute more – but we’ll be asking people who have more, to contribute even more. And that will be reflected in our decisions on council tax,” Mr Hunt told MPs.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports: