MoneySavingExpert: a stronger brand than iTunes

Here at MSE Towers, we’re a little gobsmacked after reading new research about ‘brand strength’. We don’t really think of the site as a brand and we don’t deliberately try and cultivate that image, but it seems we have become one without trying.

I was first alerted when someone emailed a Scotsman article based on a YouGov poll on UK-wide brand strength based on quality, value and customer satisfaction. The piece stated:

"In the online category, Martin Lewis’s Money Saving Expert website beat off competition from global names such as iTunes to take the top spot, while internet phone service Skype was rated higher in the telecoms category than providers such as BT and Orange."

Then there was the Buzz Index index (which I think is separate) which put us at number 8 after recent positive feedback on brands:

1. Amazon
2. M&S
3. BBC
4. Google
5. John Lewis
6. Apple
7. Sainsbury’s
8. Money Saving Expert
9. Cathedral City
10. Waitrose

The contrast between MSE and the other brands is rather interesting. We’ve less than 40 staff, the others are, I suspect, in the 1,000s or 10,000s. We don’t have a brand manager or consultants, we just focus on trying to save people some money.

I’m sure some people within the branding industry would be able to explain why the MSE brand works, dissecting it to the nth degree, but actually I think I’m probably better off not knowing.

It makes me fearful of change

It does put me in two minds about our recent masthead change. My cherished garish green has gone and been replaced by a much classier and more professional looking masthead. But will the fact it no longer feels so homespun and personal impact people’s perception?

Then again, as I wrote a couple of weeks ago when we first launched the new homepage, the fact is we are now at a point where people know what we stand for. I hope we can keep improving the navigation and look of the site, without people feeling we’ve changed MSE’s ethos (we certainly haven’t).

A40 speed limit: is TFL incompetent or misleading

They say it should be back to 50mph by late summer [2011].”

Well last summer is a long time ago and still no sign. There are still 30mph speed limit signs on the road, with 40mph printed in a difficult to read manner over the top.

As I wrote in my initial new 30mph limit on A40 Westway is dangerously slow blog, the road is a nightmare for two-wheeled drivers like myself. If you try and stick to the speed limit, you are overtaken by cars going far faster, who see you as a menace going at slow speed. While this is better with a 40mph limit, there are still problems.

As my first blog was a small contributor to instigating coverage over this issue, I’ve deliberately written this again to do the same and remind TFL that those of us who drive regularly on this road haven’t forgotten the promise. TFL, either you’re ridiculously inefficient, or this was a cunning plan to hope we’d get used to it – which is it?

Last week I blogged about our proposed new masthead for the site and other changes (see New Masthead blog). After all your feedback, we’ve been working on some improvements, and before we go live I’d love your feedback.

The ‘new’ masthead (see below for the new new one)

Click here to see a clearer full size version

While most of the feedback was good, there were a few issues which we’ve tried to address below:

• My shirt colour too bland: In many ways this was a deliberate choice of pic, as I don’t want to dominate the site. I’ve been reducing my head size gradually over the years and would love to get to the stage where it’s not there anymore, but as many of the searches for the site involve my name and people get confused with other sites, it’s important it stays. Yet we’ve upped the colour level a bit in photoshop.
• The Forum Button: It’s a lot more prominent now and has both a direct click and a menu dropdown option.
• The ‘You look like a comparison site’ issue: MSE has always had a homely or even homemade feel. We feel it’s right to get rid of some of that flavour for clean lines, for easier browsing and navigation. Yet of course that means we follow more of a standard path.

  Some people pointed this out and said we’d lose the charm that comes from garishness and quirkiness by doing so. I think there’s some truth in that. Thus, much to my designer’s dismay, I asked for a slightly jarring, clashing element that’s reminiscent of our old ‘consumer revenge’ stance and which shows the true flavour of the site, to go back in. That’s where the deliberately slightly clunky placard comes from.

As for the folded arms photo – it was a bit like marmite to people, so we’ve decided to go for it to see if it works.

The new new masthead

Click here to see a clearer full size version

Important! Please let me know which you prefer using the discussion links below:

Energy price cuts - were you wrong to fix?

Updated 17 January after all companies have cut…

The last week’s very modest cut in energy prices have led some to question whether they were wrong to lock into a cheap fixed rate tariff to guard against future rises.

Yet these cuts need to be put in perpective. The typical bill for a standard tariff before cuts was £1,350, after it’s only dropped to £1,320 – this is very far from reversing the mammoth price hikes last year – and hundreds of pounds more expensive than the cheapest fixes that have been around for the last six months. So most who fixed should be sitting pretty.

So let’s go through it.

Fixing is about surety, not just about prices

Even before looking at the rates, which show substantial savings from fixing for many, it’s worth remembering that a fix is an insurance policy against price rises. It’s a peace of mind decision.

We always state that whether it’s right for you is about your attitude to risk, rather than guessing games. Fixing is primarily for those who cannot risk prices rising.

So it should be considered that even if prices drop substantially, which they haven’t, if you fixed for the right reasons (see my blog explaing how to decide whether to from last August: Is it worth fixing, if prices fall?) the risk of paying a little more is worth it against the damage of facing an unaffordable price hike.

It’s a bit like travel insurance, you buy it for protection, but you’re not annoyed with yourself if you don’t get ill on holiday. You bought it just in case, for peace of mind. So it’s done its job.

I must admit to being slightly surprised having seen news stories of people complaining that they fixed and now their price won’t drop.

Yet that’s the point of a fix. Your price didn’t rise during the huge hikes either.

Prices are still massively up

All the big six energy companies have cut EITHER gas OR electricity, none have cut both and only by about 5%. These are small cuts when you consider back in late summer and autumn energy firms raised BOTH gas and electricity prices by up to 19%.

The table below shows the real rise households are still facing overall

If you got a cheap fix, prices would need to drop hugely to make it the worse option

The chart above shows the difference in typical prices from the three major suppliers to have cut prices compared to pre-hike costs last summer.

Provided you got a cheap fix the right way, by doing a comparison to find the right one, prices would need to seriously dive to make fixing on the cheap more expensive than a variable tariff bought last summer as prices are still much higher, even after this round of cuts.

To show the impact of this – take a trip back in time to last July’s weekly email after British Gas’d announced a rise

It’s worth just looking at the table.

The cheapest fix then was £1,000/year for a typical home, the cheapest variable about £940/year. After the round of price cuts standard tariffs will be around £1,320 and the cheapest variable rate £1,030. In other words the cheapest fix then was cheaper than the lowest online variable rates you can get right now.

You’ve been saving a while with a cheap fix

The previous round of price hikes have been in place for up to five months, so anyone who took a cheap fix before that round has been saving big time over the past few months.

Not only that, but with the exception of British Gas, whose price cuts thankfully have immediate effect, the others haven’t hit yet. EDF is February, SSE bizarrely is late March. So there’s no gain over the expensive winter months.

What’s more, if you took a cheap fix when we first highlighted the option before the price hikes hit, many would have saved £150 over the pre-hike prices, which then jumped by 10-20%.

And given this week’s cuts shave about £20 or £30 off an annual energy bill, many will still have saved.

Even if you fixed since last autumn’s price rises, provided you were moving to the cheapest deals, unless in the rare circumstance you chose to move to a fix that cost more than you paid at the time (or your comparison showed fixing saved you £30 or less) you’re still better off compared to the post cut prices.

Of course if you choose to compare this not with what you were paying but to the very, very cheapest online deals that you could’ve moved to, which undercut the cheapest fixes, you may’ve had lower bills (the easy way to find out is do a quick comparison and see if its possible to save). Yet that is the cost of choosing the guarantee you still have that your rate won’t rise.

What will happen to prices, should you fix now?

For many on standard tariffs it is still possible to make substantial savings and lock-in to a fixed rate.

The decision to fix should be based on three factors:

- What is happening to prices: Currently, they’re creeping down, but wholesale prices are down further so there is room for more cuts. Yet that’s far from guaranteed, energy is a market and moves rapidly, so prices could still rise. So there’s no surety.

- Can I afford price rises? This is still by far the most important question. If you cannot afford the risk of prices going up – perhaps as then you’d simply not be able to make ends meet then protecting yourself from that is more important than guaranteeing you gain from any future price drops. This is all about your attitude.

- How cheap are fixes? Last summer, there were some uber-cheap deals around, undercutting even the cheapest variable rates. That isn’t quite the case now though those on standard tariffs can still save £100s by switching and fixing (see the Cheapest energy deals guide).

We have a brand spanking new home page. Hopefully it’s a lot easier to navigate and looks much cleaner – though that’s for users to judge (do leave some feedback below, which we’ll use with tracking stats). Yet this is just the start and I wanted to explain why we changed it and what’s ahead.

I still do occasionally get people asking: "Do you do the site from your bedroom?" Well that’s how it started back in 2003 (see the history of MSE), but those days are long gone, there are 35 full time people including myself working for MoneySavingExpert.com (if you’re wondering how, see how this site is financed).

We’re a top 100 UK website, with over 10 million unique users (different people in the UK using the site) each month, and while I hope the quality of the content and research is up to scratch – the design still has somewhat of a homemade feel.

This has always been deliberate. When reworking the site in the past, I’ve always been protective of the scattergun, cluttered feel – not wanting us to look corporate, to impart the fighting for consumer philosophy and generate an esprit de corps amongst users.

In fact, back in 2006, I pulled a redesign two days before launch – almost causing mutiny at MSE Towers – because all the feedback I got was: "It looks good, very corporate and professional" (see my redesign blog from back then for a view).

Yet I now think the web has changed – even many bedroom sites nowadays are much more professional, and we’ve changed. We are now a very established site, our users know what we stand for, so it can cope with a redesign making it look more professional without it hitting the all-important ‘fighting for consumers’ stance – especially if that makes it easier for people to find the info.

So while we’re still a personal site (not just me anymore though), I hope we retain that element of a professional media site, not a business one.

How the home page has changed

You can see the various looks over the years here…

> Pre-launch site 2002 (more a personal homepage really)
> The first MSE site 2003
> MSE 2005 – minor changes
> MSE 2007 – getting more green
> MSE 2008 – after the last major redesign

View New Home Page	View Old Home Page

The new home page isn’t the final version, but as January’s a busy month and we had something we believe is a lot better than the old one, we decided to get it out and then prune it live. Congrats to MSE Lawrence, Neil and Richard, plus Adam and Mark amongst others for doing some brilliant work on it.

Yet this is just the start. We know lots of you love MoneySavingExpert, but we get constant complaints that "it’s too busy" and "I can’t find what I want" and that’s the real aim here.

The running order of the redesign

So as for what we’re planning to do …

• New masthead
  
  

  This is still a work in progress (pic of me is far too big and not one I like either), yet the colour scheme and general look is roughly along the lines I want. As you can probably tell, the new home page was designed to have this masthead atop it – and once it’s there, I think the whole thing will all fit together.

• Much improved main site search – done

  
  Try a search (top right of each page), we changed it a few weeks ago. Hopefully the results now bring what you hope for. It’s using back-end Google technology so should be more intuitive for most people. Do let me know what you think.

• Changing the section categorisation

  
  Some of the sections are spot-on, for example ‘cards and loans’ does what it says on the tin. Yet a few, like ‘Income and Family’ aren’t popular as they’re not too intuitive and it means people miss out on some valuable info. So we’re going to look at our categorisations and titles to try and improve this.

• Sprucing up the drop-down menu
  
  Hover over the section tabs at the top of every page, and you get a pop-up drop down menu. A huge proportion of users navigate the site this way. The current design was our first try, before we understood how people use them. Now we think we can get more in, but looking less cluttered and easier to understand.

• Bespoke section pages for each subject
  
  Currently each of the actual section pages comes from our template, with minimal work to it. We hope to redo them going forward, more in the vein of the new home page, but each being specifically designed depending on the content.

• Right hand side browse bar spruce

  
  The top bar of the site is for navigation – the right hand side for browsing and trying to get people to navigate across the site (don’t look on this page, go to the forum or a normal article). Some of the boxes in there work.

• Multi-platform accessibility (incl. mobiles)
  
  The site isn’t currently awful on mobiles, but it could be better and as we go forward we’ll be building to try and make it work for mobiles and tablets. Many have asked for an app, and it’s something we’re looking at, though for a site the size of MSE it’s still conceptually difficult to work out how that’d work.

Those are the main ones, we’ll also be taking a look at the forum, though that was done more recently so isn’t as high up on the agenda.

Do let me know what you think of the home page and any suggestions you have below.

Top 10 Friday funnies EVER

Every Friday on my Facebook page, I do a funny. Well when I say funny, more of a terrible, tumbleweeding, shaggy dog of a pun. Yet for some bizarre reason, if I ever miss it, hoards of Facebookers – mostly women I may add – virtually attack me, demanding their weekly groan (oh, err missus).

For newbies, the format’s mind-numbingly consistent. A pun turned into a semi-plausible story. The true joy though is the comments of those who forget it’s Friday and miss that it’s a joke. They often get outraged – even though it’s always obvious as I sign off with: “(sorry). Have a great weekend.”

So as it’s the last Friday of 2011, here’s a final Friday funny treat (and if you can cope do join my Facebook page to get a new one each week).

The top ten Friday funnies ever (by number of likes)

In reverse order, just for suspense you understand…

10. Nasty! Chatting to Johnny Maitland (Tonight & former House of Horrors presenter), he told me once, when hidden camera filming a dodgy gas installer, they watched agog as he peed in the kitchen sink, then took the small family dog & "interfered" with it! They called the police who arrested him. Yet even with footage, the police couldn’t prosecute – apparently he was Corgi-registered!!! (sorry) Have a great weekend

9. Bit disturbed by the police cordon on my local high street. There’s a speciality organic shop there known for large vats you use a huge scoop to get goods out of. An officer told me one of the staff was found dead this morning, head first in a vat of muesli, having effectively drowned in it. They think she was pulled under by a strong current and worse, it,s happened before, it’s a cereal killing. (sorry) Have a great weekend.

8. This is NOT a bargain! Went to this new place that’s trying to compete as a cheaper version of London zoo, that wanted listing on our summer holiday deals page. However when I got there there, outrageously all the cages were empty except for one which just had a small dog in it – it was a Shih-tzu! (sorry) Have a great weekend

7. Bumped into Scott Miller today, the Australian vet who does ITV’s This Morning & often focuses on exotic animals. Was surprised to hear today his phone’s been urgently ringing off the hook asking him to go back asap – even the Oz PM called. I couldn’t quite understand why but then it became clear, he’s the only Aussie who knows how to hold a bat properly! (sorry & YAY ENGLAND) have a great weekend – this was just after the ashes victor

6. Just been nastily insulted at my local supermarket. I was returning a lettuce from two days ago. It’d looked good but had two large caterpillars in it. The manager said, "just take them out and eat it. I know who you are, you probably put them in yourself to get a story." I was fuming: "how dare you, I keep getting dodgy stock from your store, this was just the tip of the iceberg!" (sorry) Have a great Easter .

5. It’s embarrassing, but people need to know this. All my dad’s side blood relations have been struck down at the same time with rather serious diarrhea. We’re all over the world: London (me), Manchester, New Jersey & Miami. No other connection than we’re all called Lewis. We rumbled it after dad talked to my uncle. The doctor’s now confirmed diarrhea is hereditary – it runs in the jeans. (sorry) have a great weekend.

4. I’m in a state of shock with the horrendous behaviour of some of my team today. Just got back to MSE Towers from Radio 2 to find all the doors smashed in and absolutely everything has been nicked. It truly is a shocking disgrace – where’s the respect? What is it with the modern generation – what kind of person does that to an Advent Calender! (Sorry) Have a great weekend – done the first weekend in Dec

3. Lost my rag yesterday! Took my niece to a petting zoo at the local park, there was a lovely African grey parrot, which she started tickling on the tummy. An attendant came up and barked really nastily that she should "only stroke it on the back". I was fuming, and barked back: How on Earth could she be expected to know that, why shout?" It really is polly-tickle correctness gone mad! (sorry) Have a great weekend.

2. What the TV coverage DIDN’T show! Just heard from a royal wedding reporter mate that the director was asked to avoid a disturbance near Hyde Park where, during the wedding, a man was driving a large tractor up and down and yelling through a megaphone, "the end of the world is upon us. The end of the world is nigh!" The police arrested him eventually – turns out it was just Farmer Geddon. (sorry) Have a wonderful weekend

And the most liked…

1. I’m a little shaken. Just driven to a meeting, while parking there was a BANG & the car shook. I got out & to find I’d dislodged a slab of tarmac onto the pavement. As I was by a pub I thought I’d go in to calm down. Then I worried about people tripping, so I hefted the slab up and took it in with me, then said to the barman "I’ll have one for me & one for the road" (sorry) Have a great weekend.

Were the ‘likes’ right? Are these the crème de la crème, or are they the crème at the bottom of the barrel? Your thoughts and even your attempts welcome below – note any good ones WILL be stolen.

Top 10 most read blogs of 2011

We’re nearing the year end, it’s a time for reflection – to look back and consider the past… who am I kidding, this is just an excuse for a bit of chart-porn.  It’s a chance for me to dig through some statistics and produce a table. Woo hoo…

So here’s my top ten most read blogs in 2011…

1. Money Mantras: never leave home without them – slight cheat as it’s in the weekly email each week
2. Bought a spa day from Groupon or others? Did you get it?
3. Wholesale energy prices are DROPPING. Was/is fixing wrong
4. Inspired by an amazing man – Chris Hyde’s bucket list – this was written in April, sadly in June Chris passed away, the blog remains as an honoured eulogy
5. Dear teachers – an important lesson about your pupils’ future
6. I should love Ryanair, but instead we’re fighting
7. Is it time to ban Christmas presents – Interesting that I originally wrote this blog back in Nov 2009 and it’s made it into the top ten again. Unsurprising as the message is timeless.
8. Fact: borrowing £100 at Wonga’s APR cost more than the US nation debt (over $14 trillion) after 7 years!
9. An overseas wallet… do you have one? – Another oldie but goodie managing to retain its place in the top ten – I first wrote this in May 2008, but the appeal of cheap spending abroad seems to last
10. How to have lots of passwords without struggling to remember them

Most read blogs written in 2011

Two poor ickle blogs should really have been in the 2011 top ten, yet they were buffeted out by two biggies written in prior years. Therefore, for a chart of the top 10 most read blogs written this year, exclude number 7 and number 9 from the list above and add in.

9. My embarrassing consumer rights confession – time to admit it
10. The top 10 real things we don’t believe in

Related Past Blogs

• How many spreadsheets and graphs do you have?
• My top 10 blogs, from Christmas to pooing!
• Why are women too scared to poo? (in case you’re wondering about the above)

Do let me know which you remember most of these, it may help me write better ones in the future…

Martin 'Costin' Powers

I can’t quite believe they’re me – especially the ‘Costin Powers’ (watch it yourself below). All of these sketches were filmed in 2000-2001 as part of my ‘Deal of the Day’ piece on the then little watched, and now long defunct, Simply Money TV. I can’t blame anyone else for them, I had to research, present, write, occasionally sing and produce them on my own.

It’s strange to look back at this, simply Money was my first TV gig. The Deal of the Day programme was my big break and literally where I became the MSE (literally see my 10 years ago I became the Money Saving Expert blog). Back then my time treading the boards as an amateur stand-up comic was still a fresh memory, so I tried to mix my two passions. 

The characters were cheesy and kitsch, yet I’ve always believed that my subject is boring for many people, so if I’m not excited and interested in it – I can’t expect others to be.  I hope that passion comes across even now, but then my route was via the sketches. Many of the small but loyal audience used to tell me they eagerly awaited ‘what nonsense I’d do next’, and the sketches got sillier and sillier.

I suppose in honesty I miss it somewhat. Though the thought of delivering one five days a week horrifies me now. Plus I’m not sure it’d be appropriate alongside campaigning on financial education, bank charges, PPI, or mental health and debts. Yet their shadow does live on a touch in the bits of silliness I try and throw into my ITV Lorraine films each Thursday.

If you’re wondering how this was ‘unearthed’, that’s stretching it somewhat. It has always been on the site, albeit buried and in a tiny little video. I happened across it a few weeks ago, and transferred it onto YouTube. So as it’s Christmas, here goes.

I suspect many of you scrolled straight down to the video, you can watch it here or full screen via the YouTube links

The Austin Powers one is the bit that still pains me the most to watch (so no doubt it’s the one my team will use as the picture at the top when they upload this blog!) 

My favourites are Laurel & Hardy, Unbeatibal, Lecture and Brief Beancounter right at the end – and not only cos I got a snog (it was pre Mrs MSE).  Let me know what you think.

Read letters from blind children to Santa

This blog is for all the soppy gits (like me) out there. Sit back and prepare for some bitter-sweet Christmas joy. The wonderful RNIB kindly sent us these beautiful messages as a thank you for supporting their special braille and other visually impaired-friendly letters within our Free letters from Santa guide. 

Of course they don’t do this alone, they arrange with the big beardy chap to have one of his best elves there to help ferry the messages. However, they did get a sneaky peek at some of them, and as it’s Christmas week, they’ve given their kind permission to share some of these beautiful notes with you – real evidence of the great work this needed charity does…

Names and minor details have been changed for privacy.

From Jenny aged 7.

Dear Santa Claus, Hello, my name is Jenny and I am 7 years old. I have a sister called Layla who has just turned 3. My Mummy forgot to post my letter to you because we had to go to London for my hospital appointments last week! I am trying very hard to be a good girl and I was really really brave when I went to hospital. For Christmas please may I have a new chair and TV so I can watch the TV with my sister. I really like Hello Kitty and would love to be given anything that is Hello Kitty! My Sister would love a talking Peppa Pig, because Peppa Pig makes her laugh. I hope you and Mrs Claus have lots of fun at Christmas too. I am very excited that it is nearly Christmas! Love Jenny"

From Abigail aged 6.

Dear Santa, I’m a 6 year old girl and my biggest wish is that I could see like the rest of my family. I lost my vision, most of it, I learn to read Braille. My Mum writes this letter for me. I know you can’t give me my vision back, no one can. If you send me a letter back can you write it in Grade 1 Braille please. I wish for Christmas: A dolly for me and my little sister, a bike, cars for my little brother, DV for my big sister, a book for my teachers, snow for my Mum as she loves Christmas. Thank you Santa, with love Abigail."

Christmas presents

From Sally aged 4.

Dear Father christmas. Merry christmas to you. I know you are very busy at this time of year, so I hope you are looking after yourself. My name is Sally. I am partially sighted and deaf and I also have severe cerebal palsy. So please can you reply to my letter in audio CD because my hearing is a bit better than my seeing and also i dont know how to read braille yet, but i do know some sign language. I am getting a new baby brother and sister for Christmas this year, so I am very excited. I dont know what toys i would like for Christmas, as I cannot play with any because I cannot hold them.  I do like to look at flashing lights though and I like pretty clothes. Anyway, I hope you have a very nice Christmas with Mother Christmas and that Rudolph and all the other reindeers and all of you elves also have a nice time"

From Francesca aged 8.

How are you today? Hope you are very well. Are you brushing your teeth and having your lunch? When are you coming to visit? Please can you send me a CD letter? Please can I have a woolly glove and a talking computer to listen to classical music and come chocolate to make my mum happy. Your friend Francesca"

From Ben aged 9.

How are your elves? Which elf reads the Braille to you? I have been so good all year. I have helped someone when they have fallen over. I’ve been good at home. And I would really like a pair of rugby boots and a kicking tee for my rugby and I would like a bus, please. Thank you very much. I hope you have a nice Christmas. From Ben"

From Paul aged 9.

Hi Santa, I have bad eyes, and am visually impaired, and you send me a letter every year, and I get so happy and excited to receive them, and they really make my christmas very special I was born with cataracts, and have had 4 operations, I also have glaucoma, and wear varifocal glasses. My mum calls me he bionic boy and says I’m like astro boy because I have artificial lens implants in my eyes. For christmas I have asked for lots and lots haha, I really want WWE wrestling figures, lego, moshi monsters, dvd’s, games, transformers, star wars toys, spongebob toys, football cards, harry potter toys, toy story toys and books. I would like my letter in large print (anything over font size16), or on a audio C.D in English and Welsh please Thankyou Santa "

Christmas tree

From Aimee aged 11.

Dear Santa, My name is Aimee and I am 11 years old and have complex disabilities but I love my mummy and my little just 7 years old brother Benji. I am getting ready for my school concert this friday 9 December which is always a surprise for mummy, Auntie Jane and Nan, who are coming to see me. Benji cannot come as he is at his school. I think they come for the mince pies and coffee too. I love Hannah Montana dvds and listen to them happily until my little brother decides to chat and give me hugs in my wheelchair, so then I sigh and have to watch it all over again. I also love Shrek which we all watch together. Any music can make me smile. I have been very good this year as I haven’t been in hospital as much as before. Happy Christmas Santa and love to all the elves and reindeer. Love from Aimee"

For Eleanor age 7, from her sister.

My sister Eleanor is registered blind but on top of this she has other problems which means she can’t communicate properly. She cannot speak or write but I know that she would love a audio cd from Santa as she loves to listen especially to other voices. So on her behalf I would like to ask for a letter from Santa as this is what any other 7 year old would want."

From Duncan aged 5.

Dear Santa, my name is Duncan and I am 5 years old. My movement is limited and I can only see shadows. In my class I have been doing a story about a little girl and her reindeer so I have painted one for you. I have been a very good boy this year and would like any type of UV light as other types of light can make me poorly. Thank you and merry Christmas, love Duncan xxx"

Ok, well I think I must be allergic to these letters and my eyes seem to have gone very wet after reading them. There were many more that were equally as moving. 

Huge tribute to the work of the RNIB and its elves for putting joy into the lives of those children.

And wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, joy in whatever you’re celebrating and season’s greetings.

Parliamentary participation – I almost got myself kicked out

Yesterday was a privilege. I blogged earlier on the important meat of the financial education debate in the Commons. Yet I wanted to jot some notes down about the experience too.

I’ve been to view the Commons debating before, but this felt different. Justin Tomlinson MP, who I’ve been working on this with for around a year, was proposing the motion to get financial education on the curriculum on the back of the e-petition. He’d arranged that I could sit in the part of the public gallery not separated by the security glass screen.

As that’s positioned directly above some of the MPs, it feels like you’re within the theatre and I was surprised to find myself receiving nods of welcome from some members in the chamber, and later the Minister. This left me with warring instincts. Of course I was there as a passive audience member, but the atmosphere does suck you in to want to take part.

Within their speeches, the MPs were again very kind about MSE and my involvement, and more importantly the real public swell of opinion behind the 100,000 signatures. John Redwood came in specifically to note that he’d received so many letters from constituents (go MoneySavers!) that he wanted to note his support.

The debate itself is a fantastic free show – I highly recommend it. As well as the serious stuff, the MPs’ good natured bickering and banter is hilarious. The highlight was a quote-off with members intervening to swap relevant phrases from Dickens, Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin (though I suspect it’s a ‘you had to be there’).

The most perverse moments were when MPs quoted me (though of course for facts not eloquence). At one point the Shadow Education Minister Kevin Brennan quoted my "for twenty years we’ve educated out youth into debt when they go to university but never educated them about debt," only to be cut-off by another MP mentioning my explanation of student finance on the Politics Show a few weeks ago.

It ain’t easy not to speak

The Financial Education in Schools campaign is my passion and I’ve been campaigning on it for years, so I must admit when questions were flung at the proposing MPs, it was all I could do to stop myself from yelling out an answer (I’m not that good at sitting for five hours without saying anything, as those who’ve seen my broadcasts will attest).

This peaked as Mark Garnier said something akin to "What we need to do is use real questions such as if you borrow £125, at 29% interest over 6 months, what would it be?  Now I’m not Martin Lewis, just a former investment banker, so I’m not going to approach that one".

At which point Andrew Bingham raised a ‘go on then, can you?’ eyebrow at me. Not good when you’re soemone as competitive as me, sitting by yourself with no one to talk to. I was about to answer when I remembered hours earlier I’d been told that it was important not to speak in that gallery, so slammed my jaw shut. 

I later asked the Sergeant at Arms who was stationed by me (each section of the gallery has its own) what would’ve happened if I had answered. His answer "I’m afraid I would’ve needed to escort you off the premises sir."