Martin Lewis with wife Lara Lewington receiving on OBE at Buckingham Palace
Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis has accused Jeremy Corbyn of failing to tackle antisemitism in the Labour Party.
The 45-year-old personal finance guru has also attacked Facebook for not paying enough tax in the United Kingdom and revealed he limits the amount of time his daughter spends online.
Lewis founded the popular Money Saving Expert website and has a reported net worth of approximately £73 million.
In an interview with The Times he revealed that he receives anti-Semitic abuse online and that his family have been spat at for being Jewish.
‘There’s the casual antisemitism. I get, “Oh you are Jewish, that’s why you are a money-saving expert, that’s why you are so tight”.’
But he also expressed concerns about antisemitism in Labour saying ‘we expect Nazis to be antisemitic’ but not for the problem to exist in a party that is meant to be ‘a safe space for equality’.
‘I was once on a train from a football match and these skinheads started singing songs about gas chambers and making hissing noises,’ he said.
‘In the end I shouted “stop, that’s offensive”. They shouted “are you a y**?” and I said yes.
‘They said “what are you going to do about it Jewboy?”. The train went silent. The guy opposite me was reading a medical textbook.
Martin Lewis has revealed that he has paid £10 million in tax and is proud of the contribution that has made to society
While Jeremy Corbyn is himself not antisemitic, Lewis said the Labour Leader has been ‘blind to far-left antisemitism’
‘I looked up at him and he looked away as if I had done something wrong. I was more upset about that than the thug and that is a good analogy of Labour.
‘I think Jeremy has been blind to far-left antisemitism. I don’t think he is himself antisemitic but I don’t think he understands the conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism.’
He added: ‘You’re the bloody Labour Party, you’re meant to be a safe space for equality.’
Lewis is currently suing Facebook for publishing dozens of adverts using his image to promote scams and he hit out at the social media giant for the amount of tax it pays in the United Kingdom.
‘I’m a very wealthy man but I believe that you have to pay your taxes and be squeaky clean – so should Facebook if it operates in the UK.
‘Don’t tell me they have nothing to do with Britain. If you have a UK-facing website, then UK advertising rules should apply to you.
‘I will be charitable and say Facebook is far too big and is totally out of control. I set up a website in my bedroom that now has 100 staff so I get it, but Mr Zuckerberg has gone way beyond what is understandable. Facebook has put profit before morality.’
He revealed that he has paid ‘well over £10 million in tax over the years’ and is proud of the contribution that has made to made.
‘I’m very proud to be able to go past primary schools and think, “My tax paid for that”,’ he said.
Lewis married former 5 News weather presenter Lara Lewington in 2009 and the couple had a daughter in November 2012.
‘Digital technology is marvellous. We should enjoy the internet but we should be very careful about allowing children on to it. There are nasty people.
‘Occasionally I let my daughter watch me playing a game on my phone but my wife and I are anti-screen time. Kids need to be doing other things.’
When it comes to his own personal spending he says he travels by Easyjet rather than private jet and never buys designer clothes.
Lewis revealed that he restricts the amount of time the couple’s five-year-old daughter spends online
Lewis on a recent episode of Question Time. He said he has ambitions to appear in the House of Lords
‘I go on nicer holidays, I can do more campaigning now than I’ve ever been able to and set up more charities.’
‘The point is I will never pay more than I need to. I’m lucky enough I can afford anything I want but I’m not about that.’
In the interview he also spoke about the devastating effect of his mother dying just before his 12th birthday in hit and run car crash.
‘Not much can touch you after that’s happened. In a truly horrible way, it’s a superpower because you’ve got a shield — nothing is ever going to be as bad as that until you become a parent, and then you have the other dread.
‘He would happily offer to die on his 60th birthday if he could guarantee to live until then when his daughter will be 20.
He also revealed he is extremely keen join the House of Lords as an independent peer.
‘I got turned down for a crossbench peerage … I applied, I had lots of supporters, it’s something I would have enjoyed doing. Maybe I’ll apply again at some point.’