The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says he has been wearing a gilet to keep his heating bills down, along with several other measures to curb soaring costs.
Speaking after a public Q&A session about the cost of living crisis with money saving expert Martin Lewis, Khan said he had been following the cash guru’s tips in his own home.
Asked whether he had been making any changes in his personal life due to the crisis, he said: “My focus has been on Londoners, but one of the things I’ve done is follow the advice from Martin Lewis, simple things we can all do to reduce our [energy] consumption.
“Making sure the lights are switched off, making sure if there are rooms that aren’t being used, simple things [are being done] like turning the dials [down], the central heating off, wearing three layers rather than two.
“People will have noticed that I often wear a gilet – [there’s a] good reason for that.”
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When it comes to the plight of people across London, Khan said the costs he was most concerned about were rents and energy prices.
“When rents are going up by more than 16 per cent over the last year, more and more Londoners are renting, that causes me real concern. Unfortunately, we’re seeing more Londoners struggling because of that.”
On energy prices, he said he was especially worried about “the changes in April coming in, when they could go up even more”.
But he also said he wanted Londoners to be aware of the support they can seek.
“What’s really important is to ensure that Londoners know there is advice available to them, but there are things they can do to ameliorate some of the worst consequences of the rising cost of living crisis, so people shouldn’t suffer in silence.
“It’s really important that people understand that not only are there great advisors, whether it’s Citizens Advice or law centres, or Martin Lewis, but also there are things they can do to support themselves and their families.”
Among the measures suggested by Lewis were ensuring curtains are open when it’s sunny and closed when it’s not, as well as taking the time to check for benefits eligibility.
“If you have family income under £40,000 a year, go onto an online benefits calculator and check if you’re entitled to any benefits,” said Lewis.
“I’m not saying you will be – there will be many people in those circumstances who aren’t – but I’m looking at ‘At what point is it worth investing ten minutes of my time to go onto a benefits calculator?’”
He added that the belief that people on benefits are “scroungers” was a “terrible situation in this country”.
“Would you be embarrassed if you’d paid into the bank all of your life to take your money out?” he asked.
“Well, you’ve been paying into the system for all of your life, and that’s what the system is there for.”
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