Money blog: Trump sends message to UK on energy bills - and we've fact-checked it (2025)

By Jess Sharp, Money live reporter

This week, we reported on an inflation surge not seen since January last year, sparking concerns that interest rates could remain higher for longer.

Inflation, which shows the rate at which prices are rising, reached 3.5% in April, driven by hikes to essential household bills.

Businesses warned that further price increases could be on the way, while brokers suggested mortgage rates could edge upwards within weeks off the back of the data.

Our business and economics correspondent Paul Kelsoexplained what it all meant for you...

In some good news, we found out that energy bills will be coming down for many households after regulator Ofgem reduced the price cap.

The average annual energy bill for a typical household will fall by around 7% to £1,720 from July - a £129 reduction from the current £1,849 cap.

For those on fixed-rate deals, there will be no change until their term expires.

All focus has already turned to what could come next for energy bills, with people cautiously hoping Donald Trump won't cause any increases...

We also saw a U-turn from the government on its cut to the winter fuel allowance.

Making the allowance means tested has hung over the Labour government politically and proved deeply unpopular with older Britons - though a YouGov poll two weeks ago suggested the wider public backed Sir Keir Starmer.

It's not clear who will benefit from the U-turn - all we know is more pensioners will be eligible and an announcement will be made in the autumn.

With so much uncertainty, we always like to point out ways to make your money go further.

This week, our cost of living specialist Megan Harwood-Baynes had a look at the bank switching deals returning to the market.

One of them is offering the equivalent of £310 for switching - but there are specific criteria you need to meet to qualify. We explain them in this post...

For those of you preparing to jet off on holiday, we rounded up the data roaming fees being charged by the UK's major phone providers.

And we also explained why it might be worth considering an e-SIM in this handy guide...

As we head into the bank holiday weekend, you can also catch up on the latest piece in our What It's Really Like To Be A... series.

London cab driver Mark White spoke to us about the passenger question he hates the most and why there has been a £15k fall in earnings.

We'll be back with our live content next week, but you can check out our weekend long read tomorrow.

Our Money features writer Brad Young has been exploring what happens to women's finances after divorce and why they are often left much worse off than men.

If you are working for an employer, they must give you a P60 certificate by the end of May.

This can be on paper or in digital form.

A P60 shows how much tax you have paid in the government's financial year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April.

If you work for multiple employers, each should provide a P60.

The document enables employees to:

• Claim back overpaid tax
• Apply for tax credits
• Use it as proof of income when applying for a loan or mortgage

It also enables people to check the total amount of tax they have paid in the last financial year, and see if the correct sum has been taken.

If your employer does not provide a P60, you can use the HM Revenue & Customs app to discover the same information.

You can also contact HMRC directly.

Tesco Mobile has come out on top as the best mobile provider with a 94% satisfaction score in the latest research by the UK's communication regulator.

It generated the fewest complaints of any mobile provider, according to Ofcom, with an average of around four per 100,000 customers.

Overall, smaller providers outside of the four major network operators - EE, O2, Three and Vodafone - scored better in the report.

Lebara and Giffgaff both received a higher than average overall satisfaction score.

Across all providers, the average number of complaints made went down, but O2 generated the most at 23 per 100,000 customers.

Three followed with the second-highest number, with 12 per 100,000.

What about home broadband?

Topping the list of broadband providers is Plusnet, with an overall satisfaction rating of 91%.

This was followed by EE with 87% and Vodafone with 86%.

The worst score was given to TalkTalk, with an overall rating of 75%, while NOW Broadband received the highest number of complaints.

Donald Trump has threatened to put a 25% tariff on Apple products unless iPhones are made in the US.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or any place else," the US president said in a social media post.

"If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US."

Apple, the second-biggest company in the world, has been looking at shifting production to India after Trump imposed big tariffs on China.

That plan has frustrated Trump, who also brought it up last week during his Middle East trip.

So what could this mean for iPhone prices?

In short, it could cause a dramatic increase in the cost of manufacturing an iPhone, which risks the price that we buy them for going up.

There are concerns it could hurt sales and the company's profits.

The Bank of America has previously suggested that a move to the US could push up the cost of making the smartphone by as much as 90%.

"While it may be possible to move final assembly to the US, moving the entire iPhone supply chain would be a much bigger undertaking and would likely take many years, if even possible," the bank said.

"If Apple had to pay reciprocal tariffs to import sub-assemblies into the US, we see the total cost of an iPhone increasing 90%+," the analysts warned.

Every Friday, we take an overview of the mortgage market before rounding up the best rateswith independent experts fromMoneyfacts...

Brokers have warned of mortgage rate increases after higher-than-expected inflation reduced hopes of an interest rate cut in June.

Swap rates, which determine how much it costs lenders to lend, are likely to rise after April inflation came in at 3.5%.

"This increase is certainly going to stall the recent mortgage rate improvements, and with inflation due to stay above 3% for the rest of the year, it may be too much to expect further base rate cuts in 2025," Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, said.

"And that's why mortgage rates will edge upwards in the next few weeks."

For now, this is only a warning - in fact, several prominent lenders have cut their rates as they play catch-up with the most recent base rate cut from 4.5% to 4.25% earlier this month.

Santander cut its fixed rate deals by up to 0.19%, Virgin Money by up to 0.18% and HSBC by as much as 0.21%.

The overall average two-year fixed rate held firm at 5.11%, while the typical five-year fixed rate fell slightly to 5.07%, according to Moneyfacts.

Here are the lowest remortgage rates on the market...

Moneyfacts also picks out "best buys" that look beyond rates to take into account fees and incentives, which could come in handy if you have exhausted your savings for a deposit...

More mortgage market innovations

With lenders under continued pressure to get the housing market moving and boost growth, we saw more banks making changes to help people get on the property ladder.

Barclays reduced its stress tests, which are used to work out a borrower's ability to keep up with the mortgage payments if interest rates increase.

The change means borrowers can borrow up to £30,750 more. Nationwide become the first major lender to relax its stress test rules last week.

"Lending more money isn't just about profits, it's about sensible risk assessment. With house prices high and rates falling, these changes make sense," Sean Horton, managing director at advice firm Respect Mortgages, told Newspage.

Another innovation came from Gable Mortgages, which became the second lender to launch a 100% mortgage after the 2000s-reminiscent deal returned thanks to April Mortgages last week.

These enable buyers to purchase a property without having a deposit. The standard five-year fix is priced at 5.95%, while the new-build option has a rate of 5.65%.

While the rates might not sound too high in comparison to the current averages, they do also come with hefty fees starting at £2,095 and going up to £9,995. These fees cannot be added to the loan.

White Maltesers are making a comeback, with manufacturer Mars Wrigley citing "significant consumer demand".

They first appeared as a limited edition product in 2003 before being made permanent the following year.

Since being discontinued in 2014, the company says fans have been "clamouring" for their return.

In 2017, an online petition garnered almost 1,700 signatures.

One person said white Maltesers were their "favourite chocolate in the whole world" and promised to buy thousands of bags if they went back on sale.

They are due back in the shops in the middle of June.

White chocolate is seen as a "growing trend", Mars Wrigley added.

The pound has surged in value against 46 of the 54 most popular currencies, meaning your holiday money will probably stretch further.

Over the last year, travel money specialists, No1 Currency, found the strongest spike has been against the Argentinian Peso.

Sterling is now worth35.8% moreagainst Argentina's currency than it was in May 2024.

It increased by1.3%against the most commonly purchased holiday currency, the Euro, with one pound now worth nearly 1.19 Euros, and 5.4% against the US dollar.

Here are all the places it has gone up in value:

"If you've booked a foreign trip but aren't travelling yet, it might be worth exchanging some currency now to lock into the current favourable exchange rate," saidSimon Phillips, managing director of No1 Currency.

Rates can differ a lot between different travel money providers, so do shop around for the best deal and never leave it to the airport to get your holiday cash.

"Remember that wherever you're travelling, taking some local currency in cash will help you keep track of your spending more easily and avoid unexpected charges for using your UK card abroad."

There are just a handful of destinations where the pound won’t stretch as far as it did a year ago...

The US president's take is that bills would come down if the UK moved away from renewable energy....

We asked business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso to outline whether or not Trump's statement rings true...

"Donald Trump is awake and he appears to have heard that the UK is digesting energy price news in the shape of the Ofgem price cap announcement," says Kelso.

"The president has a long-standing animus to wind turbines - windmills as he calls them - that dates back to at least 2019, when he lost a legal challenge to an offshore wind farm he said would spoil the view from his Aberdeen golf course.

"His contention today that the UK's energy bills could be reduced by focusing on oil and gas in the North Sea echoes Reform and Conservative Party policy that the government's ban on new drilling licences is pushing up prices.

"His claim that the tax system 'disincentivises drilling' and would take prices 'WAY DOWN' appears to be a reference to the windfall tax on energy companies, introduced at 75% by the last government at the height of the energy price spike, and increased to 78% by Labour.

"Energy companies agree about incentives but it is far from clear that doing so would feed through to lower prices, given the tax is levied on profits rather than the oil and gas itself, the price of which is set by the global markets on which North Sea commodities are traded.

"As for oil and gas stocks, Trump says there are 'large amounts' but on current forecasts reserves of both are insufficient to cover the UK's annual demand, and what remains is harder to extract and of lesser quality than that which has already been removed.

"The wholesale price of natural gas remains the single largest factor in setting energy prices and makes up more than 40% of the bills announced today. The government's answer is to transition to renewable energy sources and increase storage, which come at a high price to build and develop, paid in advance by consumers today, but for which the future fuel is free."

People flying to Turkey could reportedly be fined £52 if they get out of their seats before it's time to leave the plane.

Passengers are being told not to "stampede" for the exit and remain buckled up after the jet lands and taxis to the terminal.

It is not uncommon for people to congregate in the aisles, hoping their behaviour will encourage the crew to open the doors.

Turkey’s civil aviation authority said airlines will tell passengers they must remain seated, even after the seatbelt sign has gone off.

That will remain the case until it is their turn to leave the aircraft.

Airlines are obliged to "remind passengers to fasten their seatbelts during and after landing until they reach the parking position", the German DPA news agency reported.

Any infringement will be "reported to the aviation authority, and a fine will be imposed", it added.

Turkey is among the world's most visited countries. People travel there for its historic sites and tourist resorts, and its hair transplant and cosmetics clinics.

We'll continue to bring you reaction to the price cap news - but we'll now also start posting our usual consumer and personal finance news.