BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Hello, I'm Martin Lewis, and this is the cunningly named The Martin Lewis Podcast.

I do wonder what that's going to be about.

Now, usually much of it comes from my BBC Radio 5 live show with Adrian Childs,

but there's also bonus money-saving tips just for you lucky, lucky podcast listeners.

And today is a special. We're joined by Jonathan Brearley, boss of energy regulator OffGem to take my and your questions.

Some nice, some not so nice. Including, can we scrap standing charges? Why are our energy bills so expensive?

How much do green levees really cost and when will they start to lower bills? Why are firms allowed to make so much profit and is the price cap a rip-off?

We even got a question sent in by the former Secretary of State for Energy,

which prompted me to ask, how much do politicians try and intervene, and why didn't she ask it

when she was his boss? Plus O2 is hiking its price hike, raising prices by more than it said it would

when people signed up. This makes a mockery of another regulator off-coms consumer protections.

So what can you do if you're an O2 customer,

and what should the government do now O2 has broken this taboo

to prevent other mobile and broadband firms following suit?

There's a lot to get through.

Enough of me telling you what's coming.

Let's get on to actually doing it.

Play the theme

tune. Martin, I'm led to believe it's the nine year anniversary of your 10,000 step goal. So what was that? To do 10,000 steps every day no matter what? Yes, it is. And I've managed to succeed on every single day, apart from the 2nd of August, 23, when I had food poisoning. And at 10 o'clock at night, I was so desperate to get my 10,000 steps. I managed to

crawl out of bed. I got to the front door and my legs crumbled underneath me and I had to go back to bed. So with that one blip, two years and about 30 days ago, I've done 10,000 steps every day. And this year, this year, I'm looking for the first time. I normally average 25,000 steps a day to average

26,000 steps a day. I'm on track for it, or more accurately, I'm on carpet for it, I'm on pavement for it, I'm on road for it. And I should make it, yeah, but my streak with one exact, with one exception. Oh, that's annoying. That's so frustrating. It's nine years now, nine years. And how far short were you on that day? Oh, I only managed two thousand steps. I mean, literally, it'd been coming out both ends, Adrian. And my legs were wobbly and weak. And I was still determined. My wife was going, what are you doing? Get back to bed. I've got to get my 10,000. I got myself down the stairs, holding onto the banister. I got myself. I walked out. I got to the front door. VCs have been one for less. Genuinely, legs wobbled and one of the legs buckled, and I was on the floor, and she went bed. Right. That was it. I think that was a good decision. So, oh two, raising prices. Yeah, well, this is more than raising prices. And I'm, I'm quite

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