Martin Lewis slams government’s ‘failure’ to fund money textbook

The Money Saving Expert founder said he used £325,000 of his own cash to pay for the Your Money Matters book after being told the education department would not stump up the funds.

Mr Lewis, who now presents a TV show advising people on how to manage their finances, was giving evidence to the Commons education committee on the state of financial education in the UK.

The national curriculum was updated in 2014 to include more elements of financial literacy, particularly in maths, following a successful campaign spearheaded by Mr Lewis.

Just a few years later, Mr Lewis said, no public funds had been made available to aid learning. Mr Lewis said he held meetings with the then education secretary Nick Gibb about the need for a textbook in classrooms to boost learning.

But Mr Lewis said he was told by Mr Gibb that the state would not pay for the book, and that he should consider covering the costs himself.

“I funded this textbook because the state wouldn’t and told me it had to be paid for by an individual,” he told MPs.

“That is a political failing – I could have put bias into this book.”