2010 in the United Kingdom

2010 in the United Kingdom:
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Events from the year 2010 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Gordon Brown (Labour) (until 11 May), David Cameron (Coalition) (starting 11 May)

Events

January

Satellite photo of Great Britain and Ireland during the cold spell.

3 January – The prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that full body scanners would be introduced at UK airports following the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on 25 December 2009.^[1]
5 January – The country was once again deluged by heavy snowfall as it endured its worst cold spell since the winter of 1981–82.^[2]
10 January – The Sunday Mirror defence correspondent Rupert Hamer was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.^[3]
12 January – Alastair Campbell, former government advisor, was interviewed by the Chilcot Inquiry, and said he was prepared to defend "every word" of the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction which led to the invasion of Iraq.^[4]
18 January – Following the collapse of strike talks late last year, British Airways cabin crew decided to vote again on possible strike action.^[5]
20 January – Unemployment fell for the first time in nearly two years, with the national total for November 2009 dipping by 7,000 to 2,460,000. However, some regions of Britain were still enduring a rise in unemployment, and experts said that the slight reduction in unemployment was largely due to an increase in people taking part-time work and work in occupations largely unrelated to their skills and experience.^[6]
26 January – The Office for National Statistics announced that the UK was no longer in recession, with gross domestic product having grown by 0.1%, a weaker rise than many economists had expected.^[7]
29 January – former Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared at the Iraq Inquiry and was questioned in public for the first time about his decision to take the United Kingdom to war against Iraq.^[8]^[9]

February

2 February – The Birmingham based confectionery giant Cadbury was taken over by American rival Kraft Foods in an £11.5 billion deal.^[10]
3 February – Opinion polls indicated that Labour had reduced the Conservative lead to as little as seven points, increasing the possibility of a hung parliament after the forthcoming general election.^[11]
5 February – After a long period of negotiations, the political parties of Northern Ireland, including the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, reached an agreement to allow for the devolution of policing and justice powers.^[12]

March

2 March
- BBC Director General Mark Thompson confirmed proposals to close BBC 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network as part of a cost-cutting drive. The plan would also see BBC Radio 7 rebranded as BBC Radio 4 Extra and cutbacks to the BBC website.^[13]
- Jon Venables, one of the two boys (then aged 11) found guilty of murdering Merseyside toddler James Bulger in 1993, was recalled to prison after breaching terms of his life licence. Venables, at the time, 28, spent eight years in custody before being paroled along with Robert Thompson in 2001.^[14]
5 March – The prime Minister Gordon Brown gave evidence to the Chilcott inquiry.^[15]
8 March
- Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, rejected ongoing public calls to give reasons why Jon Venables has been recalled to custody to be made public.^[16] Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also reportedly refused to inform James's mother Denise Fergus of the reason.^[17]
- Following lengthy discussions between Royal Mail managers and Communication Workers Union representatives agreed a deal to settle the postal workers dispute.^[18]
10 March – Chester City F.C., bottom of the Blue Square Premier League, go out of business after 125 years, less than a year after being relegated from the Football League where they had spent all but four seasons since 1931.^[19]
12 March
- Birmingham couple Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza received prison sentences after being convicted of the manslaughter of Ms Gordon's seven-year-old daughter Khyra Ishaq, who died as a result of starvation two years ago. Ms Gordon was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Mr Abuhamza was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of seven and a half years.^[20]
- The Unite union which represents British Airways cabin crew announced two rounds of strike action for three days from 20 March and four days from 27 March.^[21]
20 March – The first British Airways strike, set to last for three days, began. More than 80 planes were grounded at Heathrow Airport alone and numerous flights were reported to have been cancelled, though British Airways officials are confident that 65% of flights will be undisturbed.^[22]
30 March – Levi Bellfield, a 41-year-old man two years into a life sentence for murdering two women and attempting to murder a third, was charged with the murder of Surrey teenager Milly Dowler, who disappeared in Walton-on-Thames eight years ago and whose body was found in Hampshire woodland six months later.^[23]

April

The volcanic eruption that plighted many British travellers.

6 April – The prime minister, Gordon Brown, visited Buckingham Palace to seek The Queen's permission to dissolve Parliament on 12 April, triggering a general election on 6 May.^[24]
9–11 April – Metal detectorist Dave Crisp discovered the Frome Hoard, 52,503 Roman coins dating to the period 253–305, one of the largest such finds in Britain.^[25]
12 April
- Policing and justice powers were devolved from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Executive. As part of the devolution process, David Ford, the leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, was elected Minister of Justice by the Northern Ireland Assembly.^[26]
- Minutes later, a car bomb exploded outside the MI5 headquarters in County Down, Northern Ireland. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the bomb shortly after its detonation.^[27]
15 April
- A cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused the closure of airspace over the United Kingdom and northern and western Europe.^[28]
- ITV1 aired the first of three election debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg ahead of the 2010 general election.^[29]
21 April – The government announced that British airports would reopen and passenger flights would resume, but officials cautioned that it would take time for flight schedules to return to normal after the six-day shutdown caused by volcanic ash from the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.^[30]

May

Leaders of the Main Parties

David Cameron,
Conservative Party Leader.

Gordon Brown,
Labour Party Leader.

Nick Clegg,
Liberal Democrat Leader.

6 May
- The 2010 general election took place, resulting in a hung parliament. The Conservative Party won a plurality of seats, 306 of the 649 contested, placing them 20 seats short of an overall majority in the House of Commons, whilst the Labour Party won 258 seats, and the Liberal Democrats 57.^[31]
- Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, became the party's first Westminster MP, being elected in Brighton Pavilion,^[32] and Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party leader, unexpectedly lost his Belfast East seat to the Alliance Party.^[33]
- Local elections were also held across England in all 32 London Boroughs, all 36 Metropolitan Boroughs, 20 Unitary Authorities and 76 Non-metropolitan districts. The Labour Party gained 15 councils to control 36 overall, the Conservatives suffered a net loss of 8 councils, leaving them in control of 65, and the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of 4 local authorities, being left in control of 13 councils.^[34]
7 May – The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats began negotiations to reach either a parliamentary agreement, or to create a coalition government with a House of Commons majority.^[35]
8 May – Liberal Democrat MPs endorsed Nick Clegg's decision to negotiate with the Conservative Party in the first instance following the inconclusive result of the general election.^[36]
9 May – Chelsea became champions of the Premier League after beating Wigan Athletic 8-0 on the final day of the season.
10 May – Gordon Brown announced that he would be stepping down as Labour leader, thus triggering a leadership election. Talks between the Lib Dems and Conservatives were continuing.^[37]
11 May
- Gordon Brown confirmed his resignation as prime minister and went to Buckingham Palace to inform The Queen of his decision.^[38]
- David Cameron was then confirmed as prime minister, in a coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg as deputy prime minister.^[39]
12 May
- Unemployment remained above 2,500,000 for the second month running.^[40]
- David Miliband announces his candidacy in the Labour Party leadership election. Interim leader Harriet Harman rules herself out of the running to hold the position permanently.^[41]
14 May – Stephen Timms, Labour MP and former treasury minister, was wounded in a stabbing in his East Ham constituency in Newham, London.^[42]
15 May
- In Chelsea completed the double with a 1–0 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.^[43] In Scotland, Dundee United win the Scottish Cup with a 3–0 victory over Ross County at Hampden Park.^[44]
- A 21-year-old woman, Roshonara Choudhry, was charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Timms.^[45]
16 May
- Ed Miliband followed his brother David in declaring his candidacy in the Labour leadership election.^[46]
- The government announced an audit of spending commitments made during the final year of the previous Labour administration, and also announced a reduction in the budget for bonuses to senior civil servants.^[47]
17 May
- The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility to take over the Chancellor's role of economic and fiscal forecasting.^[48]
- After a month of disruption, flight restrictions were lifted at all British airports after the volcanic ash over the nation's airspace moved away.^[49]
18 May – The 55th Parliament of the United Kingdom meet for the first time following the general election, with the first business being the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The incumbent speaker John Bercow is re-elected.
19 May – Ed Balls also confirmed that he will be contesting the Labour Party leadership.^[50]
20 May – The requirement that house sellers in England and Wales must have a Home information pack produced before putting a property on the market was suspended by the coalition government.^[51]
21 May – David Cameron told German leader Angela Merkel that he wanted a strong role in the European Union but would not hand over any more powers to Brussels.^[52]
25 May – The first State Opening of Parliament of the new parliamentary session took place.
26 May – A 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of three prostitutes were found in the River Aire in Bradford, West Yorkshire.^[53]
27 May
- Stephen Griffiths (aged 40) was charged with the murder of three women whose bodies were found in Bradford.^[54]
- Netto announced the sale of all its UK stores to Asda in a £778 million deal.^[55]
29 May – David Laws resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after admitting he had claimed expenses to pay rent to his partner.^[56] He was succeeded by Scottish Secretary Danny Alexander.

June

June
- The Strata ("The Razor"), a 148-metre, 43-storey, 408-flat skyscraper at Elephant and Castle in the London Borough of Southwark, that incorporates wind turbines into its structure, is completed.^[57]
- Beavers bred in the wild in Scotland for the first time in 400 years.^[58]*1 June – Foreign minister William Hague announces that 41 Britons detained in Gaza were expected to be deported imminently.^[59]
2 June – Twelve people were killed and 25 injured after a gunman, identified as taxi driver Derrick Bird, went on a killing spree in the Whitehaven, Egremont and Seascale areas of Cumbria. He was found dead, having reportedly shot himself, in woodland at Boot.^[60]
3 June – Police released the names of the twelve people who were killed in yesterday's shootings in Cumbria. They include Derrick Bird's 52-year-old twin brother David, the family's 60-year-old solicitor Kevin Commons, and 31-year-old Garry Purdham, brother of rugby league player Rob Purdham.
8 June – Chancellor George Osborne pledged a "fundamental reassessment" of the way the government works as he outlined plans to involve the public in spending cuts.^[61]
15 June – The Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday found that the British Army was "unjustified" in shooting 27 civilians in 1972. Prime Minister David Cameron later apologised on behalf of the Government.^[62]
16 June – The government announced that Regional development agencies in England were to be replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships by 2012.^[63]
20 June
- The death toll of British forces in Afghanistan reached 300 in nine years when a Marine died of his injuries in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, after being wounded in Helmand.^[64]
- British motorbike Grand Prix returned to Silverstone.
21 June – Jon Venables, one of the two killers of Merseyside toddler James Bulger, appeared in court charged with possession and distribution of indecent images of children. Venables, now 28, was released on life licence in 2001 with a new identity after serving eight years for the murder, along with Robert Thompson.^[65]
22 June – Chancellor George Osborne presented the coalition government's emergency budget statement to the House of Commons.^[66] The most notable changes include a 2.5% increase in VAT to 20% and a 25% reduction in public spending.^[67]
25 June – David Cameron announced his intention to have all British troops home from Afghanistan by 2015.^[68]

July

3 July – Christopher Brown (aged 29) is shot dead in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, by a gunman who badly wounds his 22-year-old girlfriend Samantha Stobbart.
4 July – PC David Rathband is badly wounded in another shooting incident in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The gunman is reported to be 37-year-old Raoul Moat, who is also named as a suspect for the incident in Gateshead yesterday. Mr Moat was released from prison on 1 July after spending nine weeks in prison for assault.^[69]
5 July – Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announces that a referendum on introducing the alternative vote system for Westminster elections will be held on 5 May 2011.^[70]^[71]
9 July – Northumbria police are reported to have found an armed man, believed to be murder suspect Raoul Moat, in the local area and are negotiating with him to persuade him to give himself up.^[72]
10 July – The week-long police manhunt for Raoul Moat comes to an end after he shoots himself dead following a six-hour stand off with officers in a field at Rothbury, Northumberland.^[73]
11 July – The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is won by Mark Webber with Lewis Hamilton in second place.^[74]
14 July – David Cameron condemns individuals who have left tributes to Raoul Moat; floral tributes have been left at the scene of his suicide and a Facebook group has been set up in his memory.^[75]
16 July – The High Court rules that Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, jailed for life in 1981 for murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others, should never be released from custody. Sutcliffe, now 64, spent the first four years of his imprisonment in a mainstream prison before being declare insane and moved to a secure mental hospital in 1985, where he has remained ever since.^[76] However, a psychiatrist's report on Sutcliffe reveals that his mental illness is now under control and that he should be moved to a unit with lesser security, where he could even be allowed out on day release.^[77]
23 July
- Jon Venables is sentenced to two years in prison after admitting distributing child pornography.^[78]
- Economic growth stands at a four-year high of 1.1%, in only the third quarter of economic growth which followed a record six-quarters of detraction.^[79]
- Gavin Grant, a former footballer who played for Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers and Bradford City, is found guilty of a murder committed in Harlesden, London, six years ago.^[80]
28 July – The Home Secretary Theresa May announces plans to scrap the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in England and Wales.^[81]
29 July
- The government announces that, as from October next year, employers will no longer have the right to force workers to leave without paying them off once they turn 65.^[82]
- Metro Bank opens its first branch, in Holborn, London, the first wholly new high street bank for more than a century.^[83]

August

1 August – A scheme which allows parents to check if someone with access to their children is a sex offender, will be extended to cover the whole of England and Wales by Spring 2011 after proving successful in four pilot areas.^[84]
3 August – The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, arrived in the United Kingdom for a five-day visit as the two countries disagreed about recent comments by David Cameron on "the export of terror".^[85]
6 August – During a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks of an "unbreakable" friendship between Britain and Pakistan.^[86]
8 August – Government plans to scrap free school milk for the under-fives across the UK are abandoned by David Cameron amid fears it would remind voters of the "Thatcher milk snatcher" episode of Edward Heath's 1970–1974 government.^[87]
9 August – Martin O'Neill resigns after four years as manager of FA Premier League club Aston Villa, despite having guided them to European qualification in their previous three seasons – their best run for over a decade.^[88]
11 August – Unemployment has fell to 2,460,000 in the sharpest fall in unemployment seen for three years. The number of people in employment has increased by 184,000 over the last three months – the sharpest quarterly fall since 1989.^[89]
13 August – The Government announces that the Audit Commission is to be scrapped, with its functions being transferred to the private sector.^[90]
16 August – former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to give the £4.6 million advance and all royalties from his forthcoming memoirs, A Journey to a sports centre for badly injured soldiers.^[91]
17 August – Lord Pearson of Rannoch announces that he is to step down as leader of the UK Independence Party less than a year after being elected to the position, stating that he is "not much good" at party politics.^[92]
22 August – Brazil wins the 2010 World Blind Football Championship after beating Spain 2-0 in the final at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford.^[93]
24 August – David Cameron's wife Samantha gives birth to their fourth child, a girl, later named Florence Rose Endellion, at the Royal Cornwall Hospital whilst on holiday in Cornwall.^[94]^[95]
29 August – The News of the World prints evidence that the current Lord's test between England and Pakistan was rigged in a match-fixing scam worth millions of pounds.^[96]

September

Labour Party leader Ed Miliband.

1 September – former Prime Minister Tony Blair's memoirs, A Journey, are published, containing criticisms of his successor, Gordon Brown, claiming that Brown could be "maddening" and is "lacking emotional intelligence".^[97]
2 September – Seamus Heaney's poetry collection Human Chain published and nominated for the 2010 Forward Poetry Prize.^[98]
3 September – Annie Turnbull, believed to be the oldest person in Britain, dies at the age of 111.^[99]
4 September – Tony Blair is pelted with missiles when attending a book signing in Dublin, Republic of Ireland; four people are arrested in connection with the attack, which is believed to have stemmed from protests against the Afghan and Iraqi wars.^[100]
8 September – Ian Cameron, father of the prime minister, dies in the South of France after suffering a stroke, aged 77.^[101]
10 September – The government unveils plans to privatise Royal Mail.^[102]
14 September
- An inquiry into the death of Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, who was shot dead at Northern Ireland's Maze Prison in December 1997, states that his death was caused by serious failings by the Prison Service.^[103]
- Singer George Michael, 47, is fined £1,250 and jailed for two months after being found guilty of crashing his car after taking cannabis.^[104]
16 September – Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Edinburgh to start a four-day state visit to Britain – its first papal visit since that of his predecessor Pope John Paul II in 1982.^[105]^[106] He meets with the Queen and on 19 September officially proclaims the beatification of John Henry Newman in Birmingham.^[107]
23 September – The Thanet Wind Farm is officially opened by Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne and Oystein Loseth – head of Swedish firm Vatenfall, who built the turbines, at a cost of £750 million over two years.^[108]
25 September – Ed Miliband is elected to become Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, narrowly beating his brother David in the final round of the leadership contest.^[109]
27 September – Labour Party activists at the conference in Manchester condemn the coalition government's proposed public spending cuts as "obscene".^[110]
28 September – Ed Miliband makes his first major speech as Labour leader at the party's Annual Conference telling delegates that his "new generation" will return the party to power.^[111]
29 September – After losing the Labour Party leadership challenge to his brother Ed, David Miliband announces that he will not be serving in his brother's shadow cabinet, although he will continue as an MP.^[112]

October

1 October
- The Equality Act comes into effect, consolidating legislation requiring equal treatment in access to employment and services regardless of gender, race, health, disability, sexual orientation, belief and age.^[113]
- Ryder Cup golf tournament opens at Celtic Manor Resort, the first time it has been held in Wales.
9 October – Foreign Secretary William Hague confirms that British aid worker Linda Norgrove, 36, who was captured in Afghanistan on 26 September, was killed during a failed mission by American special forces the previous day.^[114]
11 October – The inquest begins into the deaths of the 52 people who were killed in the terrorist attacks on London by Al-Qaeda members on 7 July 2005.^[115]
13 October – Ed Miliband attends his first Prime Minister's Questions as Leader of the Opposition.^[116]
15 October – American company New England Sports Ventures completes a £300 million takeover of Liverpool FC.^[117]
19 October – Defence Secretary Liam Fox announces that the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is to be scrapped imminently.^[118]
20 October – Chancellor George Osborne unveils the highest postwar cuts in public spending.^[119]
25 October
- The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, promises a "very radical" overhaul of the state pension system.^[120]
- A Populus opinion poll shows Labour one point ahead of the Tories on 38% – the first time in three years that a major opinion poll has shown Labour in the lead.^[121]
26 October – Independent Print Limited launches i, the first national daily newspaper for a quarter of a century. The 20p paper is aimed at "readers and lapsed readers of quality newspapers".^[122]
30 October
- An explosive device is intercepted at East Midlands Airport, preventing a potential terrorist bombing of a passenger aeroplane. On the same day, a similar package is found on a cargo plane in Dubai. Al-Qaeda is suspected to have been responsible for both incidents.^[123]
- Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman causes controversy after calling Liberal Democrat Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander a 'ginger rodent' at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Oban.^[124]

November

2 November
- Human remains are found in Waterfoot, County Antrim; it is believed that they may be those of Peter Wilson, who was last seen alive in 1973 at the age of 21 and whose disappearance was linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles.^[125]
- The Lancaster House Treaties are signed at 10 Downing Street on 2 November 2010 by President of France Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron.^[126]
4 November – The one millionth Range Rover is produced at the Land Rover factory in Solihull, 40 years after the original Range Rover was first produced.^[127]
5 November
- A specially convened Election court orders a re-run of the 2010 general election campaign in Oldham East and Saddleworth, the constituency of former Immigration Minister Phil Woolas after Woolas was found guilty of making false statements against an opponent during the original campaign.^[128]
- Nigel Farage is re-elected as the leader of the UK Independence Party.^[129]
- A concrete mixer lorry falls on a train near Oxshott.^[130]
10 November – University students riot outside the Conservative Party headquarters in Millbank, London, in protest against funding cuts and proposals to increase tuition fees.^[131]
11 November – The Government unveils plans for the biggest shake up of the welfare system since the 1940s.^[132]
16 November
- Clarence House announces the engagement of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton. The couple will marry next year.^[133]
- The UK Government is to pay millions of pounds in compensation to around a dozen British citizens who were held in detention overseas, including the camp at Guantanamo Bay, and claim British security services colluded in their torture.^[134]
19 November – Conservative Party politician Lord Young resigns as the coalition government's enterprise adviser after claiming that most Britons "have never had it so good" in spite of the recession.^[135]
24 November – A second protest in London sees thousands of students demonstrate. Trouble flares in Whitehall, resulting in 17 people being injured and 32 people are arrested. Unrest also spreads into cities including Brighton, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield, with street protests and university building sit-in protests taking place.^[136]
25 November – The Government unveils an £8bn investment package for Britain's railways.^[137]
25 November – An icy blast hits North East Scotland with weather forecasts suggesting the rest of the country will be affected in the coming days.^[138]
27 November – Ed Miliband launches a two-year review of Labour Party policy, saying that the Party must move beyond New Labour and calling on activists to make it the "People's Party" again.^[139]
30 November – Plans are announced by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, to devolve major new financial powers to Scotland.^[140]

December

1 December – Heavy snow and freezing temperatures now affect most of the country, with road, rail and air services disrupted and thousands of schools shut. Gatwick and Edinburgh Airports are both closed.^[141]
2 December – England's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup fails having attracted only two votes; FIFA awards the tournament to Russia instead.^[142]
3 December – The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal returns to Portsmouth for the last time before being decommissioned. The amphibious warfare ship HMS Albion is announced as her successor as the Royal Navy's flagship.^[143]
9 December
- A second wave of protests in London by university students protesting against increased tuition fees and reduced public spending on higher education takes place in Whitehall, London. A Cenotaph war memorial and statue of Winston Churchill are vandalised, and a car transporting The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall is attacked.^[144]
- The coalition government wins a vote in the House of Commons to raise the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 with a majority of 21.^[145]
11 December – Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson resigns amid criticism of his handling of transport chaos brought on by recent heavy snow in Scotland.^[146]
12 December – Keith Brown is appointed as Scottish Transport Minister following yesterday's resignation of Stewart Stevenson.^[147]
13 December – Mark Weston, the first person to face a second murder trial in the United Kingdom following the abolition of the double jeopardy rule in England and Wales, is convicted of killing a woman in Oxfordshire in 1995. He is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 13 years.^[148]
15 December – Unemployment has risen to 2,500,000 for October; the first monthly rise in six months.^[149]
16 December – The Scottish Government rules out re-introducing tuition fees for Scottish university students, but students from other parts of the United Kingdom attending university in Scotland may face fees of £6,000.^[150]
17 December – The British government announces plans to make prisoners serving less than four years eligible to vote.^[151]
21 December
- The Business secretary, Vince Cable, loses power to rule on Rupert Murdoch's take-over of BSkyB after being recorded stating that he had "declared war" on Murdoch by undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph.^[152]
- Police in Bristol are becoming concerned about the whereabouts of a woman, Joanna Yeates, who has not been seen since the evening of 17 December.^[153]
23 December – former MSP Tommy Sheridan is convicted of perjury following a twelve-week trial.^[154]
26 December – Avon and Somerset Police say they are "satisfied" that a body found on Christmas Day near the village of Failand, Somerset is that of missing Bristol woman Joanna Yeates, who disappeared on 17 December.^[155]
28 December – Police launch a murder investigation after a post mortem into the death of Joanna Yeates concludes that she had been strangled.^[156]

Undated

Broadcasting Tower, Leeds, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, opens.
New car sales increase slightly to just over 2 million this year. The Ford Fiesta is Britain's best selling car for the second year running, while the Nissan Qashqai enjoys record sales for a model in the growing crossover market as Britain's tenth best selling car with nearly 40,000 sales.

Publications

Howard Jacobson's comic novel The Finkler Question.^[157]
Jon McGregor's novel Even the Dogs.^[158]

Births

20 May – Lady Cosima Windsor, daughter of Earl and Claire, Countess of Ulster.
24 August – Florence Cameron
29 December – Savannah Phillips, daughter of Peter and Autumn Phillips and first great-grandchild of Elizabeth II.

Deaths