I was spat on for being Black – but Britain is not racist, says David Lammy

David Lammy has insisted that despite experiencing horrendous prejudice while growing up, he does not believe Britain is a racist country and hit out at those who “would have us believe that we are more divided than we really are”.

Writing exclusively for The Independent to mark Black History Month, the justice secretary described how he was spat at as a young boy for being Black, and said he was “terrified” of the skinheads who “patrolled our neighbourhoods, spreading their hate”.

But he insisted his experiences of efforts to combat division have shown him Britain is not a racist country and is instead a nation of people “determined to play their part in putting it right”.

Arguing that most people want to live in a “tolerant society”, Mr Lammy hit out at Reform, warning the party’s worldview is counter to Britain’s true spirit.

He highlighted comments made last weekend by Reform’s MP Sarah Pochin, who told Talk TV that seeing Black and Asian people in adverts made her angry, warning that such remarks were becoming “normalised” and marked a return to “flagrant racism”.

While Ms Pochin has since apologised, Labour ministers have said she was only sorry “for saying the quiet bit out loud”.

Mr Lammy said: “Most people want to live in a tolerant society and are disgusted by the racist views of the Reform MP Sarah Pochin, who said there were too many Black and Asian faces in adverts. They feel the peril of such comments becoming normalised and stand with us against the return of such flagrant racism.”

He warned: “In Britain today, we can all feel a sense of division tugging away at the seams of our society. Some people would have us believe that we are more divided than we really are. They pit neighbour against neighbour, feeding fear, and fuelling outrage. But they are wrong about our country.”

However, the deputy prime minister noted how his own experience growing up in London had shown him how British history and attitudes are “progressive” in nature.

He said: “I experienced [racism] as a young boy growing up in London, where the ugly face of division could be seen on a daily basis. I was terrified when skinheads patrolled our neighbourhoods, spreading their hate on street corners and football terraces. On one occasion, I was just going about my business with my mum and my sister when we were spat on – just for being who we are.

“What I remember most vividly, though, is the people who stood up to them. The volunteers of every race and background, standing shoulder to shoulder, refusing to be intimidated. Most of them weren’t politicians or activists – they were our neighbours and our friends.”

His article comes after a major push by the Labour government to highlight the racist language used by Reform on issues such as the immigration debate, as Nigel Farage’s party hold a commanding lead in the polls.

But Mr Lammy insisted that Reform’s view of Britain is counter to the reality of British history.

He said that the spirit of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr “is at the heart of the Britain I know and love – where decent people refuse the lure of hate and instead choose the path of unity.”

And he insisted: “Britain is a story of progress. And for generations, what has powered that progress is our neglected history of solidarity. During the US civil war, mill workers in the north of England refused to handle cotton grown by enslaved people in the American South. They did so in the knowledge that it could cost them their livelihoods. Nevertheless, they took a stand – looking across the ocean at an injustice and saying: Not in our name.

He highlighted almost forgotten events like the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963, “when people of every background came together to support Black and Asian people who were fighting being banned from taking jobs on local bus crews”.

He went on: “During Black History Month, we celebrate the stories of Black Britons. Not as separate from our national story but at the very heart of it. This is a story of courage and contribution, but also of solidarity and hope to make our country a better place.”

Mr Lammy played a major role in righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal, which saw people wrongly deported after the Home Office failed to correctly keep their paperwork when they arrived in the 1950s and 1960s.

He wrote: “When the great Windrush Generation were invited to Britain after the Second World War, they were met with hostility and racism. But they persevered and built lives here, while also helping to rebuild Britain. Solidarity was there from the very beginning. Take the first Caribbean Carnival in 1959, which people of all colours and backgrounds helped get off the ground only a year after the Notting Hill riots.”

He highlighted Black pioneers like the first Black MP Bernie Grant and first Black cabinet minister Paul Boateng.

“They fought to break down doors so that people like me could walk more easily through them. In the Labour movement and beyond, there was solidarity for them and for us all,” he said in a rallying call.

“These stories about Black Britons remind us that progress for the Black community has never been automatic. Times have been tough. None of us has forgotten the horrors, such as what happened to Stephen Lawrence. But solidarity has been there at every turn.”

The Independent has asked Reform for a response. Earlier this week, Mr Farage described Ms Pochin’s comments as “wrong and ugly” but insisted he did not believe she meant to be racist.

Man charged with murder after Uxbridge triple stabbing

A 22-year-old has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a dog walker to death on Monday night. 

Afghan national Safi Dawood has been charged over the killing of 49-year-old Wayne Broadhurst, a local binman who was walking his dog in Midhurst Gardens, Uxbridge.

Dawood, of Midhurst Gardens, has been charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and possession of an offensive weapon. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

The Home Office previously confirmed that Dawood entered the UK in a lorry in 2020 before claiming asylum, which was granted in 2022.

Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: “Following the shocking triple stabbing which took place in Uxbridge on Monday evening, the Crown Prosecution Service has today announced Safi Dawood, 22, has been charged with the murder of Wayne Broadhurst and the attempted murder of two others.

“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with the Metropolitan Police Service as they carried out their investigation.”

Dawood did not know Mr Broadhurst but was known to the two other alleged victims.

The Met Police said he required hospital treatment after “suffering a medical episode” and was later returned to police custody, the Met Police said.

Around 100 locals gathered on Tuesday evening to pay a silent tribute to Mr Broadhurst, who was described as a “very gentle and peaceful” man.

Mourners laid flowers and lit candles near the police tape at the junction between Midhurst Gardens and Leybourne Road, and one Union flag was held above the crowd as they gathered shortly before 7.30pm.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said Mr Broadhurst was a binman who was “just doing the normal dog walk that he does every day”.

“I’ve been here two years and would see him walk past the window,” she said.

She described him as “the last person on Earth that you would think somebody would go for”.

She said she took some flowers and a box of shortbread over for his wife, and added: “I still can’t get over it.

“If he was five or 10 minutes later taking the dog out, would the same thing have happened?”

Deported migrant sex offender was paid £500 to drop asylum threat

A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison in a major blunder was paid £500 to leave the UK, it has emerged.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she shared the public’s anger over Hadush Kebatu’s bungled release and had “pulled every lever” to remove him from British soil – but revelations about the cash payment are likely to spark further outrage.

Kebatu, who was forcibly sent back to Ethiopia on Tuesday night with a team of five escorts on the flight, was given a £500 payment after threatening to disrupt his deportation flight.

Downing Street said on Wednesday that the payment had been an “operational decision” and came after officials rejected an application from Kebatu for a scheme that has offered up to £1,500 in resettlement grants in the past.

The government said the alternative was a “slower and more expensive process”, which could have included further detention, a new flight potentially costing thousands of pounds and fighting subsequent legal claims, it said.

In an interview with Sky News after landing in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Kebatu claimed he tried to hand himself in the morning after he was released, but he was “ignored”.

He claimed he told officers: “I will give you my hand. Please help me, where is the police station? Take me, I am wanted.”

Sky News reported the Metropolitan Police said it was “not aware of any evidence” that would support Kebatu’s claims. It added that his actions on the morning of his re-arrest “were more like those of someone trying to avoid officers, not trying to hand himself in”.

The Conservatives have since labelled the decision to pay him an “absolute disgrace”.

The government had vowed to deport Kebatu after he was wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford on Friday morning instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre. The error triggered a two-day manhunt, which ended when he was re-arrested in London on Sunday.

Kebatu, who crossed the Channel in a small boat to enter the UK on 29 June, had been living at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, when he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman, sparking a wave of protests outside the accommodation used to house asylum seekers.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said on Wednesday: “Kebatu was forcibly deported. A team of five escorts accompanied Kebatu on a flight.

“We turned down an application from him of a facilitated return scheme, which under successive governments has offered resettlement grants of up to £1,500.

“However, given Kebatu threatened to disrupt the flight, an operational decision was taken to facilitate his return.”

It is thought that the disruption included him trying to get off the plane.

It comes after The Independent revealed in June that the UK has paid migrants £53m to leave the country over the past four years.

Under a voluntary return scheme run by the government, migrants can receive up to £3,000 as an incentive to return to their home country, as part of what are known as “assisted returns”. They also have their flights paid for as part of the deal.

According to government documents, the facilitated returns scheme was set up nearly 20 years ago “to make the early removal of foreign national offenders (FNOs) to their country of origin easier”.

Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson said that the UK needs to “leave the ECHR and deport all foreign criminals as soon as possible”.

Asked about the payment, they said: “It’s an absolute disgrace and it goes to the heart of how much this government is messing up our immigration system.”

On Wednesday morning, border security minister Alex Norris could not confirm whether Kebatu received a cash payment to return to Ethiopia.

“I can’t tell you on the cash piece. I know that early in the process, he had asked for that and was denied … we do it sometimes to make a removal easier because it saves the taxpayer money, but I can’t tell in this case”, he told Good Morning Britain.

Prisons have been ordered to begin a series of enhanced checks before inmates are released following the release blunder, while an independent inquiry has been announced to establish what went wrong.

Ms Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened, and I share the public’s anger that it did. I would like to thank the police for rapidly bringing Mr Kebatu into custody and the public for their vigilance.

“I have pulled every lever to deport Mr Kebatu and remove him off British soil. I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it.

“If you come to this country and commit crimes, we will remove you.”

Deputy prime minister David Lammy said the incident was “unacceptable” and appeared to have been a result of “human error”. He added: “We must get to the bottom of what happened.”

There is growing pressure on the government to get a grip on the number of people arriving in the UK via small boats amid growing public anger over the issue.

Public discontent with the government’s handling of the issue and the housing of asylum seekers in hotels led to a wave of protests over the summer, as well as criticism from Labour’s political opponents after the number of people crossing the Channel reached a record high this year.

Inside migrant hotels that government claims are ‘luxury’

Lost and helpless in a foreign country, Abu Omar* was grateful to be given a place to stay in a hotel after arriving in the UK last year.

After fleeing a refugee camp in Jordan, he and his young family were offered a room in a London hotel, which had been designated for asylum seekers by the goverment.

Abu and his wife Sarah* live there with their two young children, packed together into a tired and bleak single room. Living day to day inside the four walls, they survive on a diet of bread, cheese and fruit. They said they decided to stop eating the hotel food after their children, a daughter aged 4 and a son aged 6, both contracted food poisoning from uncooked chicken served there.

Abu had little with him when he arrived in Britain and, after his pair of trousers got torn, he was left with only one outfit – the tracksuit he had arrived in.

Once a week, Sarah would hand-wash his tracksuit in the sink of their hotel room. With nothing else to wear, he would remain there for a day or two in his underwear until his clothes had dried.

Abu’s basic existence is a far cry from the life of “luxury” for migrants that the government described this week as ministers dicussed a plan to move migrants to military barracks. Instead, campaigners say migrants can be squeezed 11 to a room, in rooms devoid of even the most basic of facilities and food so bad it has been seen to cause diabetes.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sarah, 26, told The Independent that their living conditions inside the hotel made her feel “disgusted”. “I witnessed the hotel staff cleaning the toilet and windows with the pillow cases we slept on,” she said. Although the cleaners brought fresh pillow cases for the family, Sarah said she was unable to sleep, knowing the bed linen could have been used to clean toilets.

Abu and Sarah are telling their stories as the prime minister comes under renewed pressure over the government’s use of hotels after a bombshell report found the Home Office was squandering billions of pounds on the accommodation due to incompentence.

Since the pandemic, hotels have been predominantly used to house asylum seekers, with latest figures showing around 32,000 are being housed in this type of accommodation.

The Labour government has vowed to end use of asylum hotels by 2029, but now wants to speed this up after a wave of anti-migrant protests during the summer, some of which led to violent disorder. Some protesters appeared outraged at the idea of asylum seekers taking up spaces in “luxury” hotels.

Yet campaigners, and those living inside the hotels, say this perception is totally wrong. Refugee Action insists this accommodation is “hotels in name only” and lack “everything that makes a hotel a comfortable or desirable place” to be.

Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, added: “Nothing screams ‘luxury’ like overcrowded rooms, inadequate food, filthy conditions, stained mattresses, leaking plumbing, damp, and infestations of rodents and bugs.

“It’s clear that the people who create policy are detached from reality. These are not ‘luxury’ hotels. These are former hotels that are now being milked for private profit.”

Khalla Mohamed*, 39, who fled Iraq to escape militias who put threats on her and her family’s lives, lives in a Home Office hotel in south London.

Working as a school librarian, she left behind her family, her home and her job to seek safety in the UK. She told The Independent that her life away from her family is hard. “I have anxiety, depression and nightmares. I can’t sleep at night thinking about my family and my husband. If they find him they will kill him”.

She now lives on a basement level of a hotel where there is mould on the ceiling, bathroom and behind her bed, which she says makes her “sick and unable to breathe”.

Her mattress is also “very old, smelly and turning yellow”. In a bid to make it more comfortable, she covers the mattress with three or four layers – “and it still smells bad”.

As a woman living alone, she feels unsafe in the hotel. As expected from a hotel housing some people who have suffered high levels of trauma, there are people with mental health issues, as well as regular incidents involving aggressions and fighting – with one woman even throwing around hot water during an outburst.

Ms Mohamed says she can “feel every movement” of the neighbouring rooms, including slamming doors and loud noises in the early hours of the morning.

There are no basic essentials like shampoo or hand wash – meaning she spends some of her £8 a week government allowance on it.

Once, Ms Mohamed says, she found a slug in the bathroom on the toilet seat and shower and complained to the reception: “They told me it was okay because it is not harmful,” she said, adding that she was given the impression by hotel staff that “this is a free hotel so you should accept any circumstance you are in”.

The kettles and ironing board have been removed from the rooms and hotel staff regularly search rooms and belongings in case the residents are breaking the rules, such as a ban on cooking, she said.

Ms Mohamed said the hotel security warned them recently that three “dangerous” strangers had entered the hotel and that they shouldn’t open their room doors to them. In fear of her safety, she stayed in her room for a whole week.

Laila Sharif’s*, 22, said her life was threatened in Jordan because she married her husband against her family’s wishes. She applied for asylum in the UK for a “better and safer” life for her children.

Now in the UK, she is squeezed into one room of an asylum hotel with her husband and children. “I lived through the worst days in the hotel and I was begging them to move me. My husband and I had a psychological breakdown in the room, and my child didn’t have enough space to play in the room. There wasn’t a closet for my child’s and our clothes.”

They also suffered from a rodent infestation. “The hotel was full of mice, even in my room,” she said. “I was completely and psychologically devastated, especially as I was pregnant. When we complained the hotel staff begged us not to complain and that they would do something about it,” she said.

The hotel staff did deal with the mice problem eventually, but she said it was a stressful time for her family.

Reflecting on the protests, she said: “I heard the protesters were saying that we the asylum seekers were living better that them and that we were enjoying the happy life. But they don’t know the reality of an asylum seeker.”

Rami Khalil* was forced to flee Kurdistan as a student after a government crackdown on protests made it too dangerous for him to stay. After experiencing widespread poverty and starvation, he covertly came to Britain in 2017 in a lorry.

Now, far from living in luxury, he is financially struggling, isolated and unable to plan for the future.

Rami, 29, described how life in the hotel in the north of England feels “lonely, unsafe and without privacy”. He shares a small room and bathroom with a total stranger, who speaks a different language to him.

The conditions are dirty, crowded and he has nowhere to take confidential phone calls, leading him to feel constantly on edge, he said. Pictures from inside his hotel show a ripped and unsanitary ironing board and a broken bin.

Rami said he has now been locked in the asylum system for years – likening the hotel to “prison” – and is still awaiting a government decision. He described how he struggled to find “a space to call home” after being moved from a government-sanctioned hostel to various hotels over the years.

In his latest accommodation, Rami has witnessed weekly protests: “I see protesters standing outside and shouting, swearing sometimes with kids alongside them, and it is really scary.

“I don’t understand why they believe the lies about us, instead of seeing the reality of our lives. We are here to seek safety, rebuild our lives that we couldn’t continue in our country.”

Through all the trials and tribulations, Rami’s story is a powerful one of resilience. He uses his time to volunteer extensively for charity – helping others with translation, casework, language teaching and more.

He hopes to work in the UK eventually, using his skills to give back to society, and pay taxes in the future if he is given the legal opportunity to work.

Nazek Ramadan, director at charity Migrant Voice, said: “These are not ‘five-star’ hotels. We have witnessed people being forced 11 to a room, sharing bathrooms and toilets across floors among 30 or more people.

“Rooms devoid of even the most basic of facilities, right down to kettles, and food so bad it has been seen to cause diabetes. Nobody comes to this country having fled war and persecution and chooses to be placed in these conditions.”

A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent it “did not recognise the claims being made”.

“Where concerns are raised about any aspect of the service delivered in a hotel, we work with the provider to ensure these concerns are swiftly addressed,” they said.

“This government has taken urgent action to fix the asylum system by doubling the rate of asylum decision-making this year, reducing spending on hotels by over half a billion pounds and committing to closing every hotel by the end of this Parliament.”

They said none of the claims had been reported to them or their providers, but that any allegations would be investigated. They claim to conduct assurance inspections of initial accommodation properties at least every six months.

Abu and Sarah’s journey to this country began with a love story. They met in Jordan where Abu, 40, was born in a refugee camp. Originally from Palestinian heritage, his parents were displaced from Gaza in 1948.

He fell in love with Sarah, who is of Jordanian heritage, but their families did not approve of the relationship. After getting married, they fled, along with their two kids, searching for a new life outside of a refugee camp.

As a United Nations-recognised Palestinian, Abu secured a tourist visa and flew by plane to the UK in 2024. He described experiencing a “whirlwind” of emotions when he first arrived, completely homeless. “In the beginning, I was near a mental breakdown because I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know the language. I was nervous and anxious for my family,” speaking in Arabic to a translator he told The Independent.

Having fled halfway around the world to escape harassment for being Palestinian, Abu’s experience in the UK is one of being sworn at, verbally abused and scared for his safety as protests raged outside his accommodation.

Still, he is happier to be in a safer country away from threats to his life and no longer homeless out in the cold, while he waits for a verdict from the Home Office on whether he can stay.

He added: “We are only peaceful people who come to seek refuge in this country. We are not here to fight or do anything bad. We want to get help and help others.”

*All names featured in this article are pseudonyms which have been given to protect the identity and safeguarding of the asylum seekers featured in this story.

The case of the missing Kew statue King Charles reclaimed as his own

If you’ve visited Kew Gardens any time in the last 60-odd years, you may be familiar with a giant bronze fountain in the pond next door to the magnificent Victorian Palm House. The fountain is, itself, rather striking – a colossal 10-foot-tall nude Hercules poised to smite a writhing scaly serpent coiled between his legs.

Except that, if you have visited the gardens very recently, the fountain is no longer there. King Charles decided he wouldn’t mind it for a private part of the Windsor Estate. And so, on the evening of 22 October, Hercules was quietly “disappeared” from Kew and was discreetly packed off for the King’s personal pleasure.

This is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. There’s no question that the King is entitled to reclaim the statue: this is not a Louvre-style heist. But quite why a public space should be denied such a prominent work of art at a time when the royal family’s personal wealth is under some scrutiny is baffling.

The giant statue of Hercules and Achelous was cast by Charles Crozatier from a Bosio marble sculpture, using recycled cannons, at the request of George IV, who purchased it in 1829 for £1,260. An 1860 photograph of the North Terrace at Windsor Castle suggests that the work was initially installed there before being moved to the East Terrace Garden pond in 1909. There had been a plan to resituate it at Hampton Court Palace in the 1950s, but that was abandoned due to lack of funds.

In 1963, the Queen agreed to rescue Hercules from the store (it is officially owned by the Royal Collection) and have it moved to the Royal Botanic Gardens, and it has been there ever since. The official inauguration was overseen by Geoffrey Rippon, minister for public buildings. The fountain must have been admired by many millions of visitors to Kew in the past 62 years.

And now it is gone. Kew’s director, Richard Deverell, is said to be “surprised” that the King thought it was a good idea to claim back the statue, which the King’s mother “gave” to Kew, and is somewhat dismayed that it has left Kew with the problem and cost of replacing it. Officially, Kew is “exploring options” for what to do, though Deverell entertains the idea of commissioning an exact replica, which would involve scanning the original. That could take at least nine months and could cost a great deal.

Deverell is believed to understand that the statue is going to a private part of the Windsor estate. Having been seen by millions, it would in future be mostly invisible to the public eye. The royal family has thus inverted the mantra of Percy Bysshe Shelley via Jeremy Corbyn: “For the few, not the many.”

The King is spoiled for choice when it comes to art. The vast Royal Collection, which is notorious for its unwillingness to lend works, boasts 7,000 paintings, 500,000 prints and 30,000 drawings and watercolours. The King has personal access to more than 1,800 sculptures by European artists, recently celebrated in a four-volume catalogue. They include works by Benvenuto Cellini, Antonio Canova and Barbara Hepworth.

But to whom that hath shall be given, and if there is a corner of the Windsor estate that would be enhanced by a gargantuan 19th-century action hero statue, who are we to argue?

I asked Buckingham Palace and the Royal Collection why Charles had the statue removed from Kew Gardens and returned to Windsor, and where it would be located. A Royal Collection Trust spokesperson replied: “It was agreed between Royal Collection Trust and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew that the statue of Hercules and Achelous would return to its historic location at Windsor Castle in autumn 2025, having been on loan to Kew since 1963.”

The timing might nevertheless be thought a little tactless. The King is currently embroiled in a Herculean battle of his own to wrestle his brother Andrew out of a neighbouring property in Windsor Park, Royal Lodge, where he has squatted rent-free for decades.

Elsewhere in Windsor Great Park, a 150-acre “exclusion zone” has been declared around the eight-bedroom “forever home” in which Prince William and Kate Middleton have settled. According to The Sun, anybody who fails to heed the warnings of a series of “no trespassing” signs could face immediate arrest, perhaps caught on the state-of-the-art CCTV cameras said to have been set up near the “no-go zone”. Locals who have walked their dogs in the ancient oak-studded open fields for decades have been told to go elsewhere.

The mounting public disquiet over Andrew’s privileges may well lead to MPs breaking with convention and discussing the royal family’s living arrangements and unimaginable wealth. In addition to nine so-called occupied royal palaces (ORPs), there is a scattering of other houses, cottages, parks and castles – never mind Balmoral and Sandringham. In addition to all of these, the King owns more than 300 residential properties close to Sandringham. Then there is Anmer Hall, an 18th-century 10-bedroom manor in Norfolk given to the Prince and Princess of Wales by the late Queen. The King also owns a former farmhouse in Zalanpatak, Romania, close to the Carpathian Mountains.

If the Andrew/Royal Lodge stand-off continues for much longer, it’s entirely conceivable that MPs will start asking the truly uncomfortable questions about the mind-boggling sums – more than £50m last year – that flow into the personal coffers of the King and Prince William from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall on top of the official Sovereign Grant.

The King can take what he wants. In 1840, Kew Gardens, originally in the ownership of the crown, were handed over to the public in a remarkable act of philanthropy. The reclaiming of the statue of Hercules is an act of reverse philanthropy. It’s tiny enough in the grand scheme of things, but small gestures sometimes carry larger symbolism.

For the few, not the many.

The Independent EV Price Index October 2025

Welcome to The Independent EV Price Index, your new monthly guide to the real-world costs of buying and running electric vehicles in the UK.

Launched in partnership with E.ON Next, this innovative resource – the first of its kind in the UK – will help you understand how EV prices are shifting, what’s driving those movements, and crucially help you if shopping, trading in, or simply tracking where the market is headed.

Combined with the expert reviews on The Independent’s EV channel, we’ll help you decide what to buy and when is best to buy it.

Built on data from Insider Car Deals, the data reflects actual discounts, finance deals and incentives available at retailers right now, giving you a valuable insight into the evolving electric vehicle market every month, all curated by our electric vehicles editor, Steve Fowler.

With September one of the biggest months for new car registrations, and electric car registrations up nearly 30 per cent year-on-year, it’s no surprise that dealers aren’t working quite so hard for buyers’ business than they were last month. The EV Price Index has shown a typical increase of £207 (0.5 per cent) month-on-month at transaction level across all EVs.

That doesn’t mean that the incentives have dried up – far from it. The standout deal of the month is on the Vauxhall Corsa electric with total incentives – including discounts and finance offers – worth up to 36 per cent of the list price. In the case of the Corsa Ultimate we saw a total of £11,570 worth of incentives. GWM and Cupra joined Vauxhall in the top three brands for overall incentives on their EVs in September.

Takeaways

We might have seen a slight month-on-month increase in transaction prices, but prices are still way down year-on-year. The EV Price Index shows that buyers are typically paying £3,259 less than they were this time last year – a 7.7 per cent drop.

Takeaways

The EV Price Index is also monitoring the prices of used cars. We’ve seen an average increase of £491 (or three per cent) across our basket of ten of the most popular used electric cars from August to September. We look for like-for-like used car prices each month, with the biggest price increases showing for the Audi Q4 e-Tron and Nissan Leaf. Both saw increases month-on-month of well over £1,000.

There are lots of things that can affect used prices, particularly supply and demand, so it could be that supply of those two EVs dropped or the number of people wanting to buy them increased, which is why advertised prices appear to have risen. However, with September a busy new car buying month, it’s also a busy used car month. It will be interesting to see how those prices change over the coming months when showrooms and forecourts won’t be quite so crowded.

Takeaways

There were more EVs on sale in September than there were in August, further boosting choice for consumers. Seven new models were registered on the EV Price Index in September, while year-on-year we’ve seen an incredible 35 per cent rise in total derivatives across 118 EV models compared with just 89 last year.

That’s set to increase again with a host of new brands like Changan coming to market in the coming months, while some recent arrivals such as BYD, Jaecoo and Omoda are set to expand their ranges rapidly.

Takeaways

Buyers love SUVs, so they’re not necessarily the place to look for the biggest bargains. Over the past month we’ve seen our Median target prices for small SUVs and Medium SUVs edge up by £140 and £1,426 – which have both contributed to the overall month-on-month increase of £207. However, every other category is showing a month-on-month drop, with small cars, family cars, large SUVs and prestige cars all showing drops from August to September – the biggest being prestige cars at an extra £712, a drop of 1.1 per cent.

Takeaways

As our overall figures show, incentives have dropped overall across the EV market in September as the new registration plate drives more people into dealers. That means most of the monthly PCP costs have gone up – but not by much. Across the whole market, the rise is just £9 per month, with the only drop being small cars which would typically cost you £10 per month less during September than during August. It’s medium SUVs again that have gone up most – typically £26 a month more than last month – surprisingly followed by prestige cars and the expected small SUVs at £16 a month more in September than August. Car finance can be a bit confusing, so our guide to car finance will help you navigate the options you’ll be faced with.

Takeaways

View last month’s EV Price Index Report here.

Trump defends Israeli strikes that ‘killed more than 100’ in Gaza

Donald Trump has insisted the US-backed ceasefire in Gaza is not at risk despite Israeli strikes overnight killing more than 100 people, according to health officials.

The president told reporters on Wednesday that Israel was justified in carrying out the strikes on Tuesday after Hamas allegedly killed an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Gaza’s Rafah.

“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” he said aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.”

Trump insisted that nothing was going to jeopardise the ceasefire, which has been shaken in recent days by fresh strikes in Gaza, the delayed return of hostage remains and blockages to the delivery of humanitarian aid. Gaza’s health ministry said Tuesday’s strikes had killed 104 people.

An Israeli military official said on Wednesday that their soldier was killed by “enemy fire” on Tuesday afternoon, targeting his vehicle in Rafah. The official said Israeli troops in the area came under attack numerous times on Tuesday as they worked to destroy tunnels and Hamas infrastructure.

Israel identified the soldier who was killed as Master Sergeant Yona Efraim Feldbaum, 37.

Hamas denied any involvement in the deadly shooting and, in turn, accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.

“The violent strikes carried out by Israel across the strip [are] a blatant violation of the ceasefire deal,” it said, calling on mediators to pressure Israel to stop.

The IDF said early on Wednesday that “following strikes”, it had “begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire in response to Hamas’ violations”. It said that Israeli forces had struck “30 terrorists holding command positions within the terrorist organisations operating in Gaza”.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the military to conduct “powerful strikes” over Gaza after his office said a coffin handed over by Hamas did not contain the remains of an additional hostage, but Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered in 2023.

The IDF shared footage it said showed Hamas operatives removing remains from a building and reburying them nearby to “stage a false ‘discovery’ for photographers”.

Hamas said that it would postpone a planned handover of another dead hostage due to what it called “violations” of the ceasefire agreement by Israel.

Israel notified the United States before launching the strikes on Tuesday, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject.

The Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah said that at least 10 bodies, including three women and six children, reached the hospital overnight following air strikes in the region.

The Al-Awda Hospital, also in central Gaza, said it had received 30 bodies, including 14 children.

Nasser Hospital, in the south, said that it had received 20 bodies, including two women and 13 children, following five strikes in the area.

MPs pressure crown estate over ‘value for money’ of Royal Lodge

Parliament’s spending watchdog has written to the Crown Estate to raise concerns over the “value for money” of Prince Andrew’s living arrangements.

Pressure has been mounting on the King’s brother to vacate the Royal Lodge amid continuing furore over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and after it emerged he was paying a “peppercorn” rent on the property.

On Wednesday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wrote to the Treasury and the Crown Estate asking them to explain the rationale behind the lease arrangements.

In the letter, PAC chairman and Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the Crown Estate has a duty to manage its land “according to the best consideration of money or money’s worth which in their opinion can be reasonably obtained.”

He went on: “We are therefore concerned as to whether the lease arrangements for Royal Lodge are, in light of recent developments and changes in the responsibilities of Prince Andrew, achieving the best value for money.”

In recent weeks, Prince Andrew has faced continuing controversy over his ties to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and the publication of the posthumous memoirs by his sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre. Andrew strenuously denies all accusations.