Mayor of London and MoneySavingExpert come together to help Londoners tackle cost of living crisis

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis CBE have joined forces for a one-off live event to help Londoners tackle the cost of living crisis.

On Thursday February 2nd, the Mayor and Martin will be joined by an audience of Londoners at City Hall to discuss everything from managing soaring energy costs and tips to ease household expenses to looking after our mental health during these difficult financial times.

Deputy mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard will host the conversation with questions submitted online by Londoners and taken from audience members. The event will be streamed online via YouTube.

Thursday’s event comes as new City Hall polling from YouGov shows that 17 per cent of Londoners say they financially struggling to make ends meet or are going without essentials and/or relying on debt. This is five percentage points higher than when the same question was asked a year ago.

Half of Londoners (49 per cent) say they are seeking out cheaper products to stretch their funds whilst 45 per cent say they are using less water, fuel or energy to try to keep bills down. 39 per cent of Londoners say they think they will struggle to pay their energy bills in the next six months.

Martin Lewis has repeatedly warned of the impact a protracted cost of living crisis could have on the nation’s mental health and this appears to be borne out by the latest data: the spiralling cost of living is having a negative impact on health, with half of Londoners (50%) polled saying that the cost of living had had either a ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ negative impact on their mental health.

Organisations including Citizens Advice and Energy Saving Trust will also attend Thursday’s event to provide information about the support they can offer. This includes claiming benefits, tackling debt, energy efficiency and digital skills and help attendees access their services. The Mayor’s Cost of Living bus, run by Debt Free Advice, will also be on site to provide advice on debt and money worries.

Martin Lewis created MoneySavingExpert in 2003 and over the last twenty years has gone onto become one of the Britain’s most trusted financial experts, helping people to cut their costs and fight their corner. The site has gone on to win a host of awards and is a constant port of call for consumers and policymakers alike.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I am delighted that Martin Lewis, the UK’s foremost consumer champion has agreed to join me today to share his expertise with Londoners as they face this protracted cost of living crisis.

“The latest City Hall polling from YouGov makes stark reading, laying bare the awful impact this crisis is having on Londoners’ financial, physical and mental health. We’re doing all we can to help Londoners, it is about time ministers started doing the same.”

Martin Lewis CBE said: “The cost of living crisis is striking across the country, but this is nothing new in London, where many on the lowest incomes have struggled for years with super-high rents and a property ladder whose first rung seems miles high. Of course though it means things have gotten worse.

“London’s been my home ever since I came to study at the LSE in 1991, so I’m delighted to come and do an event with the Mayor. My focus is the practicals I’ll try to leave the politics to others I can’t promise there’s a solution to every question, but at least we may be able to point people in the right direction.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily