The money expert says millions of customers are paying more than they need to because they automatically renew services such as broadband, mobile phone contracts, insurance policies and breakdown cover without negotiating.

Speaking on his podcast, Lewis said consumers should not be afraid to challenge renewal prices and ask for a better deal. “Don’t just accept your renewal,” he said. “Especially in the right industries, you can save a shedload.”

One listener to his Martin Lewis Podcast told him they had cut costs by £550 a year, while others reported securing discounts of up to 50% simply by threatening to leave.

Martin Lewis’s golden rule

Lewis said customers should never automatically accept a renewal quote.

He explained: “We do not have a right to a cheaper price, but they do not have a right to our custom.”

His advice is straightforward: before renewing, check what rival firms are charging and use those prices as leverage.

If your provider refuses to budge, you can simply switch elsewhere.

The companies most likely to offer discounts

Martin Lewis revealed research showing some firms are particularly willing to negotiate with existing customers.

Among the companies where customers reported the highest success rates when haggling were:

• RAC
• AA
• Virgin Media
• Admiral
• Hastings Direct
• TalkTalk
• Sky Mobile
• Sky TV
• LV=

According to Lewis, more than nine in ten RAC customers who attempted to haggle reported success.

The secret department that can unlock bigger discounts

One of Lewis’s biggest tips is to ask to cancel rather than simply asking for a discount.

That’s because many companies have specialist retention teams whose job is to stop customers leaving.

Lewis explained that what customers know as the “disconnections department” is often known internally as the “retentions department”.

These teams frequently have greater authority to offer discounts and incentives than frontline customer service staff.

Why being nice could save you more money

While many people dread these conversations, Lewis says politeness can pay.

Rather than becoming frustrated or confrontational, he recommends being friendly and respectful.

According to Lewis, some call centre workers have limited discount allowances and may be more inclined to help customers who are pleasant to deal with.

He told listeners: “Always be polite and charming, never rude.”

Martin Lewis’s top haggling tips

The money-saving expert recommends:

1. Check competitor prices first

Know exactly what rivals are offering before making the call.

2. Have a reason prepared

Explain why you’re considering leaving.

This could be because:

• You’ve found a cheaper deal elsewhere
• The bill no longer fits your budget
• You need to reduce household spending

Having figures to hand can help – what’s the price elsewhere, how much do you need to reduce your spending by etc.

3. Ask for cancellation

If you’re not getting anywhere, ask to speak to the team that handles cancellations.

4. Be willing to leave

The strongest negotiating position comes when you’re genuinely prepared to switch providers.

5. Stay calm and friendly

Aggression rarely works.

Lewis says charm and patience often produce far better results.

One mobile phone trick that could trigger a discount

Lewis also highlighted a shortcut for mobile phone customers.

If you’re out of contract and considering switching, requesting your PAC code can sometimes trigger a retention offer from your provider.

The PAC code allows you to keep your existing phone number when moving networks.

Some firms respond by offering discounts or improved deals to persuade customers to stay.

Recommended reading:

Why haggling matters more than ever

With household budgets still under pressure, Lewis believes consumers should treat negotiating bills as one of the easiest ways to reduce monthly outgoings.

Whether it’s broadband, TV packages, insurance or breakdown cover, a short conversation could result in meaningful savings.

And as Lewis points out, companies are often far more willing to negotiate than many customers realise.

Have you successfully haggled your bills down? Tell us your best deal in the comments below.

In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.

Reeves emphasised the importance of the next leader sticking to her fiscal rules, which include ensuring day-to-day spending is funded through tax revenue by the end of the Parliament and reducing debt as a proportion of GDP.

Burnham has previously committed to keeping the current government borrowing and spending rules in place.

“The last government lost control of the public finances,” Reeves said.

“It sent inflation through the roof and interest rates through the roof. So control of the public finances has a real impact on families today.”

While Reeves said she had improved the flexibility in the government’s budget by increasing its financial headroom, she added the public must be left in no doubt about the party’s commitment to fiscal discipline.

“Because if you lose control of the public finances, it is ordinary working people and businesses who pay the price with higher inflation, higher taxes and indeed higher interest rates,” she added.

The chancellor was absent from the crowd outside 10 Downing Street on Monday as Sir Keir announced he would be stepping down as prime minister, but was present for a group selfie with Burnham following his swearing-in at Westminster later the same day.

Reeves said no one could doubt her commitment to Sir Keir, but when pressed on her absence from his speech she would not be drawn on why she had not been present.

“I don’t think anyone can doubt my commitment to the prime minister. I’ve been by his side for six years now as shadow chancellor and then as chancellor of the exchequer,” Reeves said.

Reflecting on her time as chancellor so far, Reeves acknowledged there were things she could have done better but said she was “really proud” of her record which included increasing the national living wage and national minimum wage, and seeing the economy grow and inflation flatten out.

“I know that whoever is prime minister and chancellor in the future will inherit a stronger economy than the one I inherited two years ago,” she said.

From the Durham dales to the coast, people took to the chance to soak up the warmth.

It comes as Wednesday was confirmed as the UK’s hottest June day on record, with a provisional temperature of 35.7C breaking the previous record from the summer of 1976, a rare red warning in place from the Met Office for extreme heat in parts of the UK.

Provisional temperatures reached 35.7C in Charlwood, Surrey, and 35.8C at Wiggonholt, West Sussex.

Back in the North East, as dawn broke, the day began with a fiery sunrise over Seaham, the low orange sun climbing above the North Sea and casting long shadows across the famous Tommy statue.

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

(Image: North News)

(Image: Shaun Howey/Northern Echo Camera Club)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Sunny day in Hartlepool. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

(Image: Pete Swan/Northern Echo Camera Club)

By mid‑morning, forecasters were reporting temperatures of up to 27C across County Durham.

At the coast, the water was busy with swimmers, paddleboarders, and toddlers with buckets and spades. Others sat back, determined to make the most of every second of sun.

Meanwhile, Northumbrian Water urged people not to swim in reservoirs over hidden dangers beneath the surface and cold‑water shock.

Pet owners were told to treat the hottest part of the day as a “lockdown” for dogs, keeping them indoors, off scorching pavements and swapping long walks for shade, water and quiet games at home.

One problem is that Old Blue Eyes was in this period, and continued to be, a grade-A shit – selfish, temperamental, violent, compulsively unfaithful – so it’s kinda hard to sympathise with or root for him. Attempts to play up his opposition to segregation and his own experiences of anti-Italian racism sound like special pleading, and there are naked bits of exposition to sanitise his personality. “I’ve seen you pay hospital bills for total strangers!” blurts his press agent George. “Damn perforated eardrum!” says Frank himself, explaining his lack of war service. Yada yada yada.

Donald Trump has given his first public reaction to the prospect of the former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham becoming prime minister.

Campaigning during the Makerfield by-election, Burnham said the UK needed to avoid what he called the “polarised, poisonous politics” of the US.

Asked his view of the current frontrunner to replace Sir Keir Starmer, Trump described him as “the mayor of a town” and said he had heard Burnham was “extremely liberal”.

Two independent Australian MPs have banded together to launch a new centrist political party which they say is a response to an increasingly divisive landscape.

The Community Strong Australia party – launched in Canberra on Thursday – will offer “unity over division and reason over rage”, will have no leader and will allow members to vote freely, rather than along party lines.

Its two members – Sydney MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender – are from a group of independent MPs known as “teals” who share socially liberal values and want greater climate action.

The party will offer an “alternate political force” to the current two-party system in Australia, the pair said.

Australia’s political landscape had traditionally been dominated by the two major parties – the centre-left Labor and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition, which leans conservative.

Labor won a landslide victory at last year’s federal election, securing a second term in power, while the Coalition suffered its worst defeat ever, followed by months of in-fighting.

In recent months, right-wing party One Nation – led by Pauline Hanson – has seen a surge in support, including one poll that found she was the preferred prime minister.

Asked if the recent rise in support for One Nation and its anti-immigration rhetoric had spurred their decision to form a new party, Steggall and Spender said they had been guided by what their voters were telling them.

“We absolutely hear those grievances,” Spender said. “People are frustrated and tired of the status quo,” she said, adding that “if I wasn’t in politics, I wouldn’t know who to vote for”.

Spender, who won her seat in 2022, said the party wants to “hear from communities beyond our own that want a voice that genuinely reflects them”.

Steggall, a former barrister and Winter Olympian, has been a federal MP since 2019, after she unseated the former prime minister Tony Abbott in an electorate that had been held by the Liberal Party for more than a century.

“We don’t want the in-fighting, we don’t want the blame game. We want solutions that will make a difference to us,” Steggall said.

The new party “offers unity over division and reason over rage,” she said, and was an “invitation” to voters “to come and build the kind of Australia we want”.

Key issues for the party will be housing affordability and cost of living pressures as well as climate change, childcare, education and healthcare.

The pair also told local media that Climate 200, a political organisation that has helped fund independents that have won several Liberal seats in recent elections, was not involved with the new party.

New electoral funding laws allow political parties a much bigger budget for campaigning, which some independents have said will disadvantage them.

Several other independents have ruled out joining, with another two “teal” independents considering their options.

The party has lodged an application with the Australian Electoral Commission with registration expected to be finalised in October.

A smooch. A snog. Sucking face. Whichever way you phrase it, a kiss can feel pretty damn amazing.

But there’s one form of lip-locking that both men and women feel very passionate about.

A ‘white kiss’ is when you kiss your partner immediately after giving them oral sex — with no clean up, meaning there are still bodily fluids involved.

It’s so beloved, that couples online have called engaging in it a ‘green flag’.

Sexologist Becky Crepsley-Fox explains: ‘Sharing fluids, mixing tastes — it can feel like total acceptance of another person.

‘There’s something about allowing that level of closeness that feels really good and like complete connection.’

When asked about white kissing on Reddit, people were quick to respond.

‘That’s actually my favourite part of receiving oral sex,’ wrote on commenter. ‘It’s so hot to taste myself on my partner’s mouth.’

‘He even pulls my head up to kiss me, so I don’t think he minds the sloppiness or taste,’ another added.

Others enjoyed it because they wanted their partner to feel as desired as they do.

‘She’ll kiss me after I eat her out, so I will kiss her after she gives me a BJ,’ explained one guy.

‘Would you want to give someone head, if they immediately treated you like you were disgusting after you did?’ asked another another.

One person felt that ‘being squeamish about bodily fluids is a huge turn off’, while another joked a ‘chef’s got to taste his own cooking’.

But, as with all sex acts, some said it just wasn’t their thing.

‘My wife and I will not kiss after oral until we wash our mouths. We just find it gross,’ one man wrote.

Why the taboo with kissing after oral sex?

Long story short, bodily fluids are still a bit taboo.

‘There’s definitely an element of shame there,’ sex and relationship expert Annabelle Knight tells Metro. ‘You don’t have to look far to see how periods are still vilified in part for this reason.

‘I find men in particular carry some (conscious or subconscious) misgivings around interacting with their own bodily fluids, which might somewhat explain why many of them don’t like to kiss after receiving oral.’

Annabelle adds that for men, the problem can run deeper.

‘To some it might even seem akin to giving yourself (or someone of the same sex) oral,’ she explains. ‘It’s possible there is some internalised shame around sex and sexuality having an effect on this.’

For Becky Crepsley-Fox, another reason is simply that people can feel ‘grossed out by it’.

‘Some people are uncomfortable with tasting their own fluids, or worry about hygiene,’ she tells Metro. ‘Bodies are intimate, and not everyone has the same relationship with that level of closeness.’

But Annabelle caveats this with a word of wisdom. ‘If you’re willing to let your partner put their mouth on your genitals, then you should have no problem kissing afterwards,’ she says.

Why can it be a turn-on?

But for all the reasons it can turn people off, kissing after oral sex can also turn people on.

As we previously mentioned, a white kiss can indicate a certain level of closeness.

And, Anabelle adds that as kissing itself is a really passionate act, when you add a shared kiss after one partner has just given oral, you ‘up the intimacy tenfold’.

‘Oral sex can also be seen as quite transactional, so kissing immediately after brings an element of passion for both partners to share,’ she adds.  

The most important thing

Regardless of people’s thoughts about a white kiss, both experts agree that the most important thing is that you enjoy it. If not, don’t do it.

‘Consent should be a core part of any sexual activity, so it’s definitely something you should discuss before sex,’ Annabelle says.

‘Aside from the question of consent, it can be an exciting way to learn about your partner’s preferences, and share your own with them (if you love it, you can let them know).’

Of course, if you are into it, just remember there is a slim STI risk to this.

‘Kissing after oral sex doesn’t usually carry significantly more transmission risk than the oral sex itself, because most STIs would already be transmissible during that part,’ Becky explains.

‘That said, infections like gonorrhoea and chlamydia can spread to the mouth and throat this way, so if you have any concerns it’s always worth getting checked.’

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​Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, has called on the Government to cut welfare spending and instead “fund warfare”. The Conservative Party chairman added that 1,120 people in his constituency were claiming unemployment benefits, which he said was “not sustainable”.

​The percentage of people aged 16-64 claiming unemployment benefits in Thirsk and Malton is two per cent, and in Scarborough and Whitby it is 3.1 per cent.

​According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of UK job vacancies fell to its lowest level for five years, while unemployment fell from 5 per cent to 4.9 per cent in the three months to April. The number of people in employment has also fallen.

​The Government has come under fire for its defence investment plan, which this month led to the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey and Defence Minister Al Carns, the latter of whom has emerged as a potential challenger to Any Burnham in a Labour Party leadership election contest.

​Kevin Hollinrake MP said: “People in Thirsk and Malton and across the country are alarmed by the growing threats Britain faces, and they are also alarmed by the growing welfare bill that is absorbing public resources and stopping us from funding our defence.

​“The threats we face are getting more and more serious. That is why I voted to demand the Government cuts welfare and gives our Armed Forces the backing they need to keep us safe.”

Kevin Hollinrake MP.

​Mr Healey recently said that the draft spending proposals would take UK defence spending to 2.68 per cent of GDP by 2030, which he said fell “well short” of the 3 per cent target he said was necessary.

​The UK has vowed to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 alongside Nato allies.

​Mr Hollinrake said there was “a consensus that our military is not ready for war” and that reinstating the two-child benefit cap would create savings for increased defence spending.

​“People in Thirsk and Malton are proud of our armed forces and they know that we need to put more money in defence and bring defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP this Parliament, rather than Labour’s target of the next Parliament – potentially as late as 2034,” he said.

​The MP added: “Conservatives have set out key steps towards 3 per cent, including by reinstating the two-child benefit cap and using billions from Net Zero to create a Sovereign Defence Fund. We have explained where the money comes from, how Labour could do this, and are now restating our offer to work together in the national interest to achieve it.”

​According to the House of Commons Library, there were 1.71 million claimants for unemployment benefits in May 2026, which was 31,200 more than the month before and 12,500 more than in May 2025.

​The claimant count is the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance plus people claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work.