Money blog: Martin Lewis slams winter fuel announcement - and says one group will be hit hardest (2024)

Consumer champion Martin Lewis has hit out at the government scrapping winter fuel payments for those not in receipt of benefits.

The measure is one of a raft announced by new chancellor Rachel Reeves in response to what Labour says is a previously unknown about £20bn black hole in the public finances.

Lewis has responded by pointing out energy prices will rise this winter - and says one group will be hit hardest now...

"The Energy Price Cap is likely to rise 10% this October and stay high across the winter, leaving most energy bills nearly double those pre-crisis, at levels unaffordable for millions.

"Many pensioners eke out the £100 to £300 winter fuel payments to allow them to keep some heating on through the cold months. While there's an argument for ending its universality due to tight national finances, it's being squeezed to too narrow a group – just those on benefits and pension credit. Yet again, those just above the thresholds will be hardest hit."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she has made the "difficult decision" to scrap winter fuel payments for some pensioners.

"Those not in receipt of pension credit or certain other means tested benefits will no longer receive the winter fuel payment from this year onward," she says.

"The government will continue to provide winter fuel payments worth £200 to households receiving pension credit, or £300 to those receiving them with someone over the age of 80."

It is part of her emergency announcement in the Commons to expose what Labour say is a £20bn black hole in the public finances left by the previous government.

Follow all the latest on that in our Politics Hub...

Jamie Oliver is launching a new frozen meals and sides range in supermarkets at both ends of the price spectrum.

The Grocer reports new lines will appear in Iceland from September - with others in Waitrose from October.

They'll include established Oliver recipes such as Mighty Moussaka, plus a "comforting cottage pie" and a chicken tikka masala.

Among the sides will be "the best" hasselback potatoes and an apparently "ultimate" mash.

On top of this, the celebrity chef and campaigner is launching a 27-strong range of what The Grocer calls "store cupboard solutions", including pastes, grains and meal pouches.

The ready meals will be manufactured by What's Cooking Deeside.

"My dream has always been to inspire more people to cook, but I know time and inspiration are the biggest barriers for busy people," Oliver said.

"So me and my team have done all the hard work and cooked up a selection of delicious dishes, so all you have to do is heat and serve.

"For those occasional times when the to-do list is bigger than hours in the day – pick up one of my dishes, pop it in the microwave, oven or hob, and enjoy!

"I've poured all of my 25 years of experience into every recipe, offering solutions and inspiration without compromising on taste or quality."

The government has offered junior doctors a 22.3% pay rise to end strike action, Sky News understands.

The British Medical Association's (BMA) junior doctors committee has agreed to put the offer to its members, and if it is accepted it will end months of walkouts over pay.

The pay rise offer will amount to 20% over two years, according to The Times.

It constitutes a pay rise of between 8.1% and 10.3% as well as a backdated 4.05% increase for 2023-24.

That is on top of a 6% pay rise for 2024-2025, topped up by a £1,000 payment - an equivalent to a pay rise of between 7% and 9%.

Read this breaking story in full here...

GPs have threatened to bring the NHS to a "standstill" amid a row over the new contract for services in England.

Family doctors across England are being balloted by the British Medical Association (BMA) on whether they are in favour of staging collective action.

This collective action could potentially mean GPs limit the number of patients they will see each day to 25. They may choose to stop performing work they are not formally contracted to do, and they could potentially ignore "rationing" restrictions by "prescribing whatever is in the patient's best interest".

The ballot of GPs is to close today and, if medics vote in favour of collective action, it will start on 1 August and could last for "months".

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairwoman of the BMA's England General Practitioners Committee, said this was not a strike but "collective, premeditated, disruptive action".

"If it's done effectively, it's done collectively and it's done well, it will bring the NHS to a standstill very quickly - but not for patients, (for) all the NHS admin, the policymakers who have put in place these decisions that aren't helping patients," she said.

What is the dispute about?

Dr Bramall-Stainer said she wanted to talk to the government about a Family Doctor Charter 2025, 60 years on from the original.

"The GP model is why the NHS has lasted as long as it has done and when you try and break the GP model, you break the gatekeeper, and when you break the gatekeeper, you break the NHS," she said. "I think that is what we're seeing on a macro level."

Dr Bramall-Stainer said there had been "three successive contracts impositions over the past three years".

The new GP service contract will see services given a 1.9% funding increase for 2024-25 - which the BMA said means many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The health and social care secretary has met with the chair of the BMA's GP committee to discuss their priorities ahead of their ballot closing on 29 July.

"However, it is important we plan for all contingencies, in every eventuality, to keep patients safe."

Ted Baker could shut all of its UK stores within three weeks, according to reports.

The business fell into administration in March.

It has since shut 15 shops in the UK, resulting in about 245 staff being made redundant.

Now, staff working at the remaining stores have been told that they will lose their jobs when the shops are shut within weeks, according to multiple media reports.

It is understood that the plans have not yet been finalised.

Staff at Asda's Lowestoft store are to stage a fresh strike in a dispute over issues including hours and pay.

The GMB union said more than 170 of its members at the store will walk out from 3am to 10pm on 9 August.

The union also said that despite meeting senior management since a previous strike in May, staff have no confidence any of the issues were being properly addressed.

UK supermarkets are not likely to be misleading shoppers over loyalty pricing, the competition watchdog has suggested.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was analysing thousands of loyalty price promotions and looking into whether non-member, or regular prices, may have been artificially inflated by supermarkets to make their loyalty price appear more attractive.

It said it was still undertaking analysis, but that "the results to date suggest we are unlikely to identify widespread evidence of loyalty promotions that mislead shoppers in this way".

But is is still looking deeper into the issue of retailers alternating between loyalty prices and "was" and "now" discounts.

Tesco Clubcard, Sainsbury's Nectar, Morrisons More and Lidl Plus are among the major membership schemes.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

Both the FTSE 100 and 250 are up slightly this morning, boosted by gains in energy firms - and as investors express optimism that interest rate cuts are coming soon to the US and UK.

Centrica, BP and SSE all increased by around 2% in early trading, with oil prices creeping upwards up amid fears of an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The cost of a barrel of Brent Crude is currently just over $81 (£63).

Tesco is also up nearly 1% on Monday after the supermarket giant announced a continuation of its £1bn share buyback programme.

However, at the other end of the scale, shares in British multinational Reckitt Benckiser have plunged nearly 9% following a damaging court ruling for the baby formula industry.

It comes after Abbott Laboratories was ordered to pay $495m (£386m) in damages on Friday after a jury in the US found one of its products caused a girl to develop a dangerous bowel disease.

Almost 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Abbott Laboratories, Reckitt Benckiser or both firms in US courts, according to a tally by the news agency Reuters.

Illinois resident Margo Gill launched the case, alleging that Abbott Laboratories failed to warn that its Similac formula could cause a potentially deadly disease called necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in premature babies.

Her child Robynn Davis developed the condition while in a neonatal intensive care unit in 2021. The infant survived, but suffered irreversible neurological damage.

Abbott Laboratories said it will appeal and argues its specialised formulas and fortifiers are among the only available options to feed such premature infants.

Meanwhile, education publisher Pearson is also down, with shares slumping more than 4% this morning following a disappointing set of financial results.

The FTSE 100 firm revealed earlier that its sales slipped to £1.75bn for the six months to the end of June, down from £1.88bn during the same period a year ago.

It comes despite its chief executive Omar Abbosh expressing optimism that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will help it to drive growth.

On the currency markets, this morning £1 buys $1.28 US or €1.18.

Rachel Reeves will signal Labour's plans to cut government departments and the Civil Service as the new administration looks to accuse Rishi Sunak of "covering up" problems with the economy.

The chancellor is set to speak to the House of Commons this afternoon following a review of the government finances after taking office at the start of the month.

It has been reported that Ms Reeveswill reveal a£20bn "black hole"she has found in the books - although the Conservative Party argues she would have been aware of this before taking office.

Ms Reeves will reveal the date of this year's budget, with speculation Labourisconsidering raising taxes in that fiscal event.

Her speech will take place at some point after 3pm, depending on what other business is happening in the Commons.

According to the Treasury, Ms Reeves "will announce immediate action to restore economic stability and deliver departmental savings this financial year".

You can follow this story live in our Politics Hub...

May we haveth one's attention please?

Many British Airways passengers will soon be watching a period drama created by the director of Bridget Jones's Diary for the safety video.

Sharon Maguire's five-minute video is inspired by some of Britain's famous literature, TV and film, and will feature on long-haul flights from 1 August.

It stars more than 40 British Airways staff, who wear costumes designed by three-time Oscar winning designer Jenny Beavan.

They worked with renowned dialect coach Jill McCullough to perfect their accents.

Shared on Youtube, the film has garnered more than 400,000 views - and people in the comments are "loving it".

If you haven't watched it in the clip above, it depicts ladies and lords of the manor, as well as housekeepers and butlers going about their everyday lives before being abruptly interrupted by a British Airways safety briefing.

Some praised the video as a "work of art", while others said it was "the single most impressive safety video" they had ever seen.

One wrote: "This safety video definitely got my attention. I was completely captivated by it. Brilliant work by the team at BA who produced this - 10/10."

"This is the first safety video I watched through to the end. Bravo well done," said another.

Calum Laming, British Airways' chief customer officer, said a period drama theme seemed like a "good fit" for the safety video, given its popularity around the world.

"We have created something truly original and entertaining that celebrates what makes Britain - and British Airways - unique while communicating the importance of safety on board," he said.

The typical rental property receives 17 enquiries before someone moves in, new Rightmove data shows.

The property website's director of property science, Tim Bannister, says the market remains "out of balance and difficult for tenants".

"We need landlord investment to increase stock and help achieve a healthier supply and demand balance in the market.

"Support for both tenants and landlords will be key to achieving long-term stability in the rental market."

Rightmove figures show:

• The average rent being asked outside London has hit a new record of £1,314 per month - up from £1,231 a year ago;
• Advertised rents in London have also risen to a record of £2,661, up from £2,567 a year earlier.

Advice from estate agents

We asked three estate agents for their tips on making yourself stand out...

Greg Tsuman, director of lettings at Martyn Gerrard estate agents and president of ARLA Propertymark, says it's not just about the cash...

"Of course, money talks and offering above the asking price may give an advantage, but that is by no means the only consideration - nor is it the most important one.

"Above all, landlords want tenants who will look after their property as if it were their own and pay on time. They also appreciate renters who are considerate at the end of their tenancy.

"A prospective renter competing against others can stand out and have the best chance of securing a property if they can provide a superb reference from their previous landlord.

"This is more important to a landlord than just money."

Sarah Bush, lettings director at Cheffins, which sells and lets propertiesin Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex, has this advice...

"Be flexible to view as soon as possible and able to move on the date that the landlord has advertised the property to be available - no landlord likes to have a void period waiting for a new tenant to move in.

"The more requests you make for items to be added or removed from a property, the less chance you may have of securing the property if you are up against other applicants who are prepared to take the property as advertised.

"A 12-month tenancy is also normally more attractive to a landlord than a six-month tenancy."

Luke Gidney, managing director at Leeds-based letting agent HOP,says...

"The best thing a potential tenant can do is demonstrate they are low-risk, with a stable and adequate income, a good credit score and a positive renting history.

"It can also be beneficial to have a possible guarantor already lined up and be prepared to move quickly, as well as having the funds in place to pay a holding deposit.

"Finally, tenants should treat the viewing as they would a job interview. This means arriving on time, being professional, considering appearance, being honest (or it will get found out later), being flexible on viewing times, meeting the requested criteria, being friendly and doing some homework on the local area."