Martin Lewis says 'catastrophic' cost of living rise is worst UK has faced in 22 years

The cost-of-living rise coming next month is “the worst” crisis Brits have faced in 22 years including Covid and the financial crash, according to Martin Lewis.

The Money Saving Expert warned there is "absolute panic" over the "catastrophic" rise in energy bills which will come into place on April 1. In a desperate plea, he urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to do more help to the poorest ahead of Wednesday’s Spring Statement.

Mr Sunak today hinted he could cut fuel duty and did not rule out tweaking income tax or National Insurance thresholds to give people more of their money. He revealed he has set up a cost of living unit in the Treasury - amid suggestions he could raise the £150 council tax rebate or £200 repayable discount off energy bills.

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He also claimed he would be lowering taxes by 2024 - after raising the tax burden to its highest in 70 years, the Mirror reports.

Mr Lewis said the 54pc or £693 rise in energy bills in April will be “catastrophic” and Britain is already more than a quarter of the way through assessing another rise on October 1. That rise looks set to be “at least another £600 a year”, which will add £1,300 to bills across this year in total as 10 million people are in fuel poverty, he told the BBC ’s Sunday Morning.

He said: “I’ve been Money Saving Expert since 2000. I’ve been through the financial crash, I’ve been through Covid which was mitigated by some of the measures the Chancellor put in place. When I’m reading messages from people saying money prioritisation used to be ‘do I go to the hairdressers, or do I go to the pub and have a takeaway’.

“Now it’s about prioritising ‘feeding my children