Speaking on his BBC podcast, the Money Saving Expert founder explained that several banks are offering at least £175 to switch to them.
Lewis said that some people open a dedicated “burner” account to take advantage of cash incentives for switching without disrupting their main banking arrangements.
He also advised that once this account is open, you should have a couple of direct debits going out of it to qualify for a switch. Lewis also urged listeners to check their new bank’s eligibility terms, as some may require a minimum amount of money to be paid in.
“The People of Aberdeen, in Scotland, are dancing in the streets because the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up, all the way, the invaluable North Sea Oil!”.
He said it would be “a big day” for the UK and “very much appreciated by everybody”.
That may be a little premature. How all this is squared up will, hopefully, become clear in the coming days and weeks.
There is one thing we can be confident about now – the new prime minister won’t be confirming approval for the controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw fields on day one in the job.
The operators of those fields were given the go-ahead by the previous Conservative government but those decisions are having to be reconsidered because of a successful legal challenge.
Environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift argued that ministers had not considered the full climate impact from burning fossil fuels which the fields would produce.
Despite both sites having production facilities in place, a lengthy process is still underway by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (Opred).
That is now in its final stages.
Both applications are subject to consultations which close in August and jumping the gun on those would certainly land the government back in court.
Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters, whose new book, “Mighty Real,” is a history of LGBTQ music, explains what a difference a word can make:
Viking
When I hear love songs sung by straight men, I mentally switch the gender of their nouns so I can relate to what they’re singing about. This is what gay people do. Most hits aren’t designed for us, not even those by us. Queer musical content ordinarily gets marginalized, unless it comes from a juggernaut like Sam Smith, a gay but mainstream and multi-million-record-selling Brit.
Unlike “Unholy,” Smith’s 2022 chart-topper with Kim Petras, there’s nothing confrontational about his new single, “My Guy.” The reason why I’m mentioning it is its simple use of a masculine noun to denote a same-sex relationship. For someone of Smith’s fame, that’s news. LGBTQ pop is rarely this straightforward.
Little Richard helped invent rock ‘n’ roll by being nearly nonsensical. Then, David Bowie made serious art out of complex gender provocation. Rebels like them are usually those with the least to lose.
That’s how it was at the Stonewall Inn 57 years ago, when butch gals, nelly boys, and drag queens got fed up with hostile New York cops. They fought back.
This summer, Sam Smith fights back with a hit-worthy ballad where one little repeated noun makes a big advancement.
To hear Sam Smith performs “My Guy” click on the video player below:
You can dream it all that you want, but you can’t have my boy You can’t have him you can try try try A breath of fresh air, a rose on the vine Oh, I could just stare at him all the time time time He’s my guy
Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters, author of the music history “Mighty Real,” says the latest ballad by British singer Sam Smith is a step forward from LGBTQ love songs being marginalized.
A new HBO Max comedy series – a spin-off from “The Big Bang Theory” – features comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) as an unlikely action hero trying to restore order to a disintegrating universe. Luke Burbank talks with Sussman, co-star Lauren Lapkus, and series creators Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Zak Penn, about taking “The Big Bang Theory” characters into uncharted worlds.
She can command a stadium crowd, but spend some time with Shania Twain and you’ll see she may be most herself with the horses. “I just love being with them,” she said. “I ride in my pajamas in the mornings! … It’s just a great escape.”
Shania Twain and Seth Doane riding in Hyde Park, London.
CBS News
It sounds a little like how she sees music, that other passion, which made her the top-selling female country artist of all time. Sometimes she’ll blend the two, taking her horses on tour, which she admits takes some planning.
We joined her for a ride in Hyde Park on a down day between performances at London’s Wembley Stadium, where we’d just seen her electrify the audience. She’d gotten an invite from Harry Styles to join him as his special guest for 12 nights at Wembley in June.
Shania Twain performs at Wembley Stadium in London.
CBS News
Watching her perform, it’s hard to imagine that Twain has suffered from stage fright. “The amount of people is not necessarily what affected me over the years with stage fright,” she said. “It was starting so young in bars that were, you know, I was eight years old, and the bars were smoky, and everyone was intoxicated. I don’t know what I’m actually singing about, because I’m singing about divorce, and I’m eight.”
Twain grew up poor in rural Ontario, Canada, but her mom recognized riches and potential in her voice, and would ferry her to bars to sing. As a minor, Twain was only allowed on stage after last call. “This was just an uncomfortable place to be as a child, and I carried that with me,” she said. “And only in my 50s, I finally just said, Whoa. I’ve got my voice. I have an audience. I have everything to just celebrate. And the fear just dropped away.”
She reminisces about all of this in her new album, “Little Miss Twain,” out later this month.
Republic Records/UMG
“‘Little Miss Twain’ is me, now, looking back at my child’s self and the journey that child went through, from starting out in those bars at eight years old, right up to when I got my recording contract in Nashville,” she said. “I didn’t get a contract until I was in my late 20s. My first Top 10 record, I was 30 already. So, there’s all of these years that were me making a living with singing in bars as a cover singer, collecting all of the songwriting that would end up becoming the Shania Twain records.”
She was “Eileen Twain,” until someone at her record label suggested she change her name. This new album reflects the process of going from being Eileen to being Shania. “It’s the bridge,” she said.
As Shania, she’d become the star her mother dreamed of.
To hear Shania Twain perform “Little Miss Twain,” click on the video player below:
According to my mother, I’m the next Tanya Tucker She drives me to sing in the bar Push start the Chevy, it’s old and it’s heavy And I’m still smaller than my guitar Smoking like a chimney, coachin’ it in me “Honey, you’re gonna go far” According to my mother, I’m the next Tanya Tucker I’m gonna be a star Yeah, I’m gonna be a star
“When I was younger, I was so over-responsible for the household,” said Twain. “My mother was depressed a lot of the time. She spent a lot of her days in bed. She lived off coffee and cigarettes that I would bring her in bed just to see if she was still alive. There was a lot of violence in the house. And we didn’t eat well a lot of the times. We weren’t clothed properly a lot of the time. …
“When I reflect back on those times, I’m reflecting on them from where I am now, which is a very good place. Like, I made it out of there. It’s like, Whoa, I’m just celebrating all of that. And what makes me feel so accomplished, is staying connected to where I came from. It’s the contrast that makes it feel so good.”
Her parents would never see her success; they died in a car crash when she was 22, and Twain became guardian of her younger siblings. Challenges came later as well: divorce from her record producer-husband, Mutt Lange, who collaborated on many of her hits. Then, the loss of her voice due to Lyme disease. She did not release any music for 15 years.
She had experimental open throat surgery to bring her voice back. “Once I made a sound, it was just there,” she said. “I feel lucky. I don’t want to make it sound easy! It wasn’t easy, it was a very long road, but I just feel very grateful and very lucky that I have it back.”
Her voice is different: “I have more, like, of a fry to my voice, you know, a little gravel. I don’t mind that. I’ve embraced it. It’s now part of my sound.”
Asked how she changes her sound mid-career, she laughed: “I know, tell me about it! How does one do that? You just adapt. I’ve taken a different approach to singing my older songs. In fact, I’ve found new placements in my voice that I enjoy, you know, that I didn’t have before.
“I love to experiment. I think it’s the same with any art form. You have to experiment a little bit to get just the right – whatever’s satisfying you the most at that time, you know?” she said.
Asked what the itch was that she scratched with her latest album, she replied, “This album was indulging in reflection of my life with a smile.”
Shania Twain.
CBS News
Twain remarried, to Frédéric Thiébaud, and lives in Switzerland. Looking back, she is remarkably forgiving of her parents. It’s all part of what’s allowing her to celebrate her past.
“I started life out a little bit on the tough side,” she said. “In my 60s now, I feel like I’ve really gotten it, or I’m just now getting all of that right.”
Asked what it is about her 60s that enabled her to “get” it right, Twain replied, “You know what it is? It’s called time. I’d love to have been able to get it right in my 50s, but I just – that wasn’t enough time. I needed to be in my 60s to start getting it right, you know? And that’s fine. I plan to live to be 200 anyway!”
Sounds like a good song! “That does, doesn’t it?” she laughed. “I better live to be 200, to get everything in that I want to get in.”
“Sunday Morning” remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week, including Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker (“My Left Foot”), and Sam Neill, star of the blockbuster “Jurassic Park.”
Ronald Gould is a federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, one rung below the U.S. Supreme Court. At 79, he shoulders a full caseload despite living with progressive multiple sclerosis. He talks with CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook about working with MS, a condition he faces with grit and a healthy dose of humor. LaPook also talks with one of Gould’s former law clerks, Karla Gilbride, an attorney who has been blind since birth.
Studies show that having a positive outlook about aging, and having good social networks, can have positive health benefits, from preventing memory loss to a longer life expectancy. Actor Ted Danson presents “Sunday Morning” viewers with advice on how to embrace aging.
Carol Bove’s bent and warped steel sculptures tower above visitors to the artist’s retrospective at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Correspondent Faith Salie talks with Bove about how her artwork invites museum-goers into an environment of curiosity and playfulness.
