UK electric car sales up by a third in first half of 2025, preliminary data suggests
British electric car sales rose by a third in the first half of 2025 after the strongest June for overall car sales since before the Covid pandemic,The number of battery electric car sales rose 34,6% to 224,838 units in the first six months of the year, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group,New car sales rose 6,8% year-on-year in June to 191,200 units, the best sales figures for the month since 2019.
A quarter of all June sales, or nearly 47,400, were electric,Separate sales figures published by the thinktank New AutoMotive, suggested electric sales were buoyed in June compared with May by the launch of the new version of the Model Y from Tesla, which has remained the biggest electric car seller in the UK despite the controversy around the support for far-right politicians of its founder, Elon Musk,Ford achieved the fastest growth in UK electric car sales, New AutoMotive said,The UK car industry has struggled to increase sales to pre-pandemic levels as potential buyers have been hit by the cost of living crisis after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,British car factories have also had to contend with a major slowdown in response to extra US tariffs of 25% announced by Donald Trump in March.
UK car production last month fell to its lowest level for May since 1949 as manufacturers cut back shipments.Those factories received respite on Monday when a lower tariff rate of 10% kicked in after a limited trade deal was agreed between the UK and US.The 10% rate will apply to the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the US.Despite these difficulties, car sales have been rising over the course of 2025, although the industry has said the numbers have been flattered by discounts which it says are unsustainable.Discounts have been targeted particularly at electric car buyers as manufacturers try to meet targets set under the government’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.
So far in 2025 electric sales have made up 21,6% of all sales, the SMMT’s preliminary data suggested,That is below the 28% target, although “flexibilities” in the rules mean the effective target is significantly lower,Dan Caesar, the chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK, a group lobbying for pro-electric vehicle policies, said the June figures were still encouraging,“The robustness of battery EV sales as a percentage of the market demonstrates we’re in a new phase of uptake,” he said.
“Savvy consumers see the trend, and the savings.Better and cheaper BEVs, in addition to genuine competition, should see sales in the second half continue to grow.”New AutoMotive’s data also suggested that demand for electric vans had risen sharply.Electric van sales increased by 50% in the first half of 2025 compared with last year to account for one in every 10 sales.
Young Europeans losing faith in democracy, poll finds
Only half of young people in France and Spain believe that democracy is the best form of government, with support even lower among their Polish counterparts, a study has found.A majority from Europe’s generation Z – 57% – prefer democracy to any other form of government. Rates of support varied significantly, however, reaching just 48% in Poland and only about 51-52% in Spain and France, with Germany highest at 71%.More than one in five – 21% – would favour authoritarian rule under certain, unspecified circumstances. This was highest in Italy at 24% and lowest in Germany with 15%
Labour’s 10-year health plan for the NHS is bold, radical – and familiar
The government’s 10-year health plan to revive, modernise and future-proof the NHS in England has arrived as the service is facing a dual crisis. It has been unable for a decade now to provide the rapid access – to GPs, A&E care, surgery, ambulances and mental health support – which people need and used to get.Normalisation of anxiety-inducing, frightening and sometimes fatal delay has produced a less tangible, but also dangerous, crisis: of public satisfaction, born of a profound loss of trust that the NHS will be there for them or their loved ones when they need it.Barely one in five people in Britain are happy with the NHS. Polling by Ipsos this week, just before the NHS’s 77th birthday on Saturday, found that about 60% of voters have seen little improvement in it during Labour’s first year in office
Twelve key takeaways from Labour’s 10-year NHS plan
The 10-year NHS plan aims to make healthcare more digital, focus on preventing ill health and provide more services locally, rather than in hospitals. It will greatly expand the NHS app and increase the use of AI and other technology.Structural changes aim to bring routine healthcare closer to patients, with the aim that most outpatient care will happen outside hospitals, while new neighbourhood health centres will provide most services so that acute hospitals can focus on looking after the most unwell.The main measures include:The NHS app will be expanded to become a “doctor” in patients’ pockets. A new part of it, My NHS GP, will use AI to help people navigate the service better, taking patients’ symptoms, asking questions and providing guidance
Starmer outlines 10-year plan to change NHS ‘from sickness service to health service’
Keir Starmer has outlined a 10-year plan for the NHS based on a shift from hospitals to community health hubs, a renewed focus on prevention and an embrace of technology, which was billed as perhaps the last chance to save the health service in its current form.Speaking at a health centre in Stratford, east London, alongside Wes Streeting, the health secretary; and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor – who had not been expected to appear – Starmer insisted this would be different to the long list of previous NHS revamps that achieved little.“We’re putting in the resources, we’re putting in the priorities and we’ve got the resolve to see this through,” he said. “In the end, I genuinely think it is only Labour governments that can do this.“I want in 10, 20, 30 years for people to look back and say this was the government that seized the moment and reformed the NHS so it’s fit for the future
‘Am I just an asshole?’ Time blindness can explain chronic lateness - some of the time
Dr Melissa Shepard has a problem with managing her time. She had always been a high achiever, making it through medical school to become a psychiatrist and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. But no matter how hard she worked, she struggled with one of life’s simplest expectations: being on time.“I really felt like I could just not crack the code,” Shepard said. “I worried: am I just an asshole? Is that why I’m always late? No matter how hard I wanted to be on time, it was a struggle
Wes Streeting: ‘half my colleagues’ in Commons using weight loss drugs
Weight loss injections are the “talk of the House of Commons tea rooms” and widely used by MPs, the health secretary has said as he pledged to widen public access to them.Speaking as the government launches a 10-year-plan for the NHS, Wes Streeting said access to weight loss injections should be “based on need and not the ability to pay”.Currently people with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more, or 30 or more with a linked health condition, can be prescribed jabs on the NHS through specialist weight-management services.It is estimated that about 1.5 million people in the UK are already taking weight loss drugs, which may have been prescribed through specialist weight loss services or obtained via private prescription costing hundreds of pounds a month
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