4 January – Sir Tim Barrow is appointed as the UK's new ambassador to the European Union.[5]
5 January
UK car sales are at a record high in 2016 according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which says that 2,690,000 new cars were registered last year, 2% higher than in 2015.[6]
The Royal Parks announces that the Changing of the Guard ceremony will be held on fixed days of the week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) instead of alternate days for a three-month trial period owing to tightened security.[7]
7 January – The British Red Cross describes the current situation in England's NHS hospitals as a "humanitarian crisis".[8]
8 January – The Trades Union Congress announces that the average UK household owes £12,887 in debt.[9]
9 January
A strike by workers on London Underground causes travel chaos and crowding in London, with much of the Tube network shut down.[10]
Seven-year-old Katie Rough is fatally asphyxiated and stabbed in the neck near her home in York. A fifteen-year-old female hands herself in to the police immediately after the killing.[11]
11 January – The Royal College of Nursing describes conditions in the NHS as the worst they have ever experienced. In a separate move, fifty leading doctors write to the Prime Minister, warning that lives are being put at risk due to mounting pressures on the health service.[13]
12 January
Plans for a 1.8-mile road tunnel on the A303 near Stonehenge in Wiltshire are finalised by the UK Government.[14]
A government-commissioned review gives backing to a tidal lagoon planned for Swansea Bay in Wales. The £1,300,000,000 project could have a lifetime of 120 years and supply 8% of UK energy.[15]
Crowds at the Women's march in Liverpool21 January – 2017 Women's March: thousands of people march in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Shipley, Edinburgh and Bristol – as well as millions more in countries around the world – in protest at Donald Trump's inauguration as 45th President of the United States.[17]
24 January – The UK Supreme Court rules against the Government's Brexit appeal case by an 8 to 3 decision, stating that Parliament must vote to trigger Article 50.[18]
30 January – A petition to stop US President Donald Trump's UK state visit gathers more than 1.8million signatures.[19]
February
1 February – MPs back the European Union Bill by 498 votes to 114, with 47 Labour rebels voting against.
3 February – The government publishes a white paper setting out its Brexit plans.[20]
7 February – Plans for building more homes in England are revealed by the government, after ministers say that the housing market is "broken".[21]
8 February – Labour MP Clive Lewis resigns from the Shadow Cabinet in protest over his party's decision to whip its MPs into voting to trigger Article 50.[22]
15 February – The European Commission issues a "final warning" to the United Kingdom over the breaching of air pollution limits.[23]
18 February – Lincoln City F.C. become the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for 103 years with a 1–0 victory over Burnley.[24]
21 February – A heterosexual couple, Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, lose their Court of Appeal case in which they sought to be granted civil partnership instead of a traditional marriage.[25]
By-elections are held in Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central to fill vacancies arising from the resignation of sitting Labour MPs. Trudy Harrison wins the Copeland seat for the Conservative Party and Gareth Snell retains the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat for the Labour Party. Labour had held the Copeland seat since its creation, and the Conservative win is the first gain by a serving government in a by-election for 35 years.[27]
Britain is hit by winds of up to 94mph from Storm Doris, causing travel disruption and a number of casualties.[28]
5 March – Tens of thousands of people including NHS employees, campaigners and union representatives march in London to protest against "yet more austerity" in the health service.[30]
6 March – The British car manufacturer Vauxhall, along with its German sister firm, Opel, is sold by General Motors to Peugeot-Citroën of France as Groupe PSA agrees to a €2,200,000,000 (£1.9bn) deal to buy General Motors' European operations.[31]
10 March BT bows to demands by the telecoms regulator Ofcom to legally separate Openreach, which runs the UK's broadband infrastructure.[35]
14 March
The British Parliament passes the Brexit bill, paving the way for the UK Government to trigger Article 50; so that the UK can formally withdraw from the European Union.[36]
Transgender fell-runner Lauren Jeska is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of UK Athletics official Ralph Knibbs. Jeska had feared her records and ability to compete in women's events would be investigated due to the unfair advantage she had from being born male.[37][38]
15 March – Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is forced to make a U-turn on his commitment to raising National Insurance contributions for the self-employed after vast opposition from Conservative backbenchers.[39]
Theresa May formally rejects Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's second Scottish Independence Referendum timetable for Autumn 2018, or at least before Brexit negotiations are concluded.
17 March – It is announced that the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, is to become the editor of the London Evening Standard; prompting extensive criticism.[40]
22 March – Four people die and at least forty others are injured in what is treated as a terrorist attack in London, when a car driver, later identified as Khalid Masood, ploughs through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death at the Palace of Westminster. Police later shoot Masood dead. In response, the Houses of Parliament are placed in lockdown for four hours, as is the London Eye and Whitehall, and the devolved Scottish Parliament suspends a debate on a second Scottish independence referendum.[41][42]
28 March – The new twelve-sided £1 coin is released.[43]
6 April – The number of fatalities in the Westminster attack increases to six as a Romanian woman, rescued after falling into the Thames but with serious injuries, dies in hospital.[46]
Local government elections are held across England, Scotland and Wales. The Conservative Party makes significant gains at the expense of the Labour Party, gaining 500 seats and seizing control of 11 councils. UKIP loses all 145 seats they were defending. The Liberal Democrats lose 41 seats, despite their share of the vote increasing. Labour is pushed into third place by the Conservatives in Scotland, where the SNP is comfortably the largest party despite failing to take control of target councils. The Conservatives win four out of six metro-mayoral areas, including in the traditionally Labour-voting Tees Valley and West Midlands.[52]
5 May – Paper £5 notes featuring Elizabeth Fry cease to be legal tender in the UK.[53]
12 May – Computers across the United Kingdom are hit by a large-scale ransomware cyber-attack, causing major disruption.[54]
23 May – general election campaigning from all major political parties is temporarily suspended after the attack in Manchester.
24 May
The UK's terror threat level is raised from "severe" to "critical", its highest possible level, for the first time in ten years; meaning not only is an attack being highly likely, it is "expected imminently".[56]
As police investigate a "network" relating to the Manchester Arena attack, up to 5,000 military personnel are deployed onto the streets of Britain. Seven people are arrested, including the bomber's 23-year-old brother. The suicide bomber is confirmed to have been 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who lived in the city and was the son of Libyan immigrants.[57]
25 May – Police investigating the Manchester bombing reveal they have stopped sharing information with the US, following leaks to the media.[58]
27 May
British Airways experiences a global IT system failure, causing severe disruption to flights worldwide.[59]
Seven people are reported killed and 48 injured in an attack by three Islamist extremists at London Bridge.[61] A hit-and-run vehicle on the bridge is followed by knife attacks at Borough Market. All three perpetrators are shot dead by police within eight minutes.[62]
Reynhard Sinaga, an Indonesian student living in Manchester is arrested on one count of rape. Later investigations reveal him to be a prolific rapist in British legal history, having poisoned and raped up to 200 men.[63]
4 June – General election campaigning is suspended by most major political parties for a day following the previous evening's attack in London. Prime Minister Theresa May confirms the general election will go ahead as scheduled on 8 June.[64]
7 June – Solar, wind and nuclear power each provide more electricity than gas and coal combined for the first time in the UK.[65]
8 June – general election 2017: The Conservatives remain the largest party, but fail to get enough seats for a majority, leading to a hung parliament. In a surprise result, they are reduced from 330 to 318 seats. PMTheresa May rejects calls for her to resign and attempts to form a coalition with the DUP, which would give her 10 additional seats. Labour gain 32 seats, with particular success in London; the SNP suffers heavy losses with 21 fewer seats; the Liberal Democrats gain four seats for a total of 12; UKIP lose their sole seat and Paul Nuttall resigns as party leader.[66]
10 June – 10 Downing Street issues a statement claiming the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed a confidence-and-supply deal to support a Conservative minority government. However, both parties subsequently confirm that talks about an agreement are still ongoing.[67]
A major fire engulfs Grenfell Tower in West London, with 71 fatalities eventually officially confirmed (16 November) and more than 70 people taken to hospital.[69]
18 June – The Government announces that there will be no Queen's Speech in 2018, to give MPs more time to deal with Brexit laws.[71]
19 June
2017 Finsbury Park attack: One person is killed and ten others are injured after a van is deliberately rammed into pedestrians near Finsbury Park Mosque. 47-year-old Darren Osborne, who shouted that he wanted to "kill all Muslims", is arrested after members of the public subdue him.[72]
Brexit Secretary David Davis heads to Brussels as formal negotiations with the EU get underway.[73]
21 June – As the heatwave continues, the UK experiences its hottest June day since 1976, with a temperature of 34.4C (94F) recorded at Heathrow Airport.[74]
26 June – The Conservatives agree a £1billion deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to support Theresa May's Conservative minority government.[76]
27 June – Nicola Sturgeon announces that she will delay plans for a proposed second Scottish independence referendum.[77]
11 July – The government announces more than £100million of investment in the UK's space sector.[83]
12 July – A gay man, John Walker, wins a landmark ruling at the Supreme Court, giving his husband the same pension rights as a wife would receive.[84]
16 July – Lewis Hamilton wins a fifth British Grand Prix, and fifth career grand slam. His fourth back-to-back win at his home race. Additionally, equaling Alain Prost and Jim Clark with 5 British Grand Prix wins.
18 July – Gains in life expectancy in England are reported to have slowed to a halt, after more than 100 years of continuous progress.[85]
19 July – The government announces that a rise in the State Pension age to 68 will be phased in between 2037 and 2039, rather than from 2044 as was originally planned. This will affect 6 million men and women currently aged between 39 and 47 years old.[86]
The Office for National Statistics reports that crime in England and Wales has seen its largest annual rise in a decade, increasing by 10% overall between April 2016 and March 2017, with violent crime up by 18%.[88]
22 July
The Government announces plans to introduce drone registration and safety awareness courses for owners of the small unmanned aircraft.[89]
21 August – The chimes of Big Ben fall silent as a four-year renovation of the building begins.[98]
September
1 September – Women are eligible to join the RAF Regiment, making the Royal Air Force the first of the British armed services to accept both genders in all roles.[99]
4 September – A survey by the National Centre for Social Research finds that, for the first time, a majority (53%) of adults in the UK describe themselves as non-religious.[100]
11 September – In a Commons vote, MPs back the EU Withdrawal Bill by 326 to 290, as critics warn it represents a "power grab" by ministers.[101]
14 September – A new £10 polymer banknote is released, featuring Jane Austen.[102]
15 September – Parsons Green train bombing: A blast and fire on a District line train at Parsons Green station in London is treated as a terrorist attack. A number of people suffer burn injuries, while others are injured during the trample to escape. There are 29 injures in total, but no deaths and no reports of any life-threatening injuries.[103] The UK terror threat is raised to its highest level as police hunt the perpetrator, who is arrested the following day at the Port of Dover.[104]
20 September – UK scientists edit the DNA of human embryos for the first time.[105][106]
22 September
Transport for London (TfL) announces that Uber is "not fit and proper" to operate in London and will not have its licence renewed.[107][108]
The UK's credit rating is downgraded by Moody's, from Aa1 to Aa2.[109][110]
27 September – Measles is declared eradicated in the UK.[111]
October
2 October – Monarch Airlines, the UK's fifth biggest airline, is placed into administration.[112]
3 October – Following a spate of acid attacks, the government announces that sales of acids to under 18s will be banned.[113]
Revised figures from the ONS indicate that Britain is £490billion poorer than previously thought, and that the country no longer has a net reserve of foreign assets.[116]
17 October – The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the UK's key inflation rate, increases from 2.9 to 3%, its highest for more than five years, driven by a rise in transport and food prices.[118]
26 October – Women in Scotland are to be allowed to take abortion pills at home, bringing the country into line with others such as Sweden and France.[119]
The Bank of England raises interest rates for the first time in 10 years, from 0.25 to 0.5%.[124]
5 November – A huge new leak of documents known as the Paradise Papers is reported by the BBC's Panorama programme, revealing how the wealthy and powerful, including the Queen's private estate, invest offshore.[125]
7 November – Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, apologises to gay men convicted of sexual offences that are no longer illegal as new legislation is introduced that will automatically pardon gay and bisexual men convicted under historical laws.[126]
13 November – David Davis announces that Parliament will be given a vote on the final Brexit deal before the United Kingdom leaves the European Union in 2019.[127]
15 November – A report by the British Medical Journal shows that NHS and social care austerity has been responsible for 120,000 excess deaths since 2010 under the Tories.[128]
16 November – The Metropolitan Police announces that 71 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire have been formally identified and that all those who died have been recovered.[129]
17 November
Sarah Clarke, current championship director of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, is appointed as the first female Black Rod. She will take up the position in January 2018, and have the title "The Lady Usher of the Black Rod".[130]
3 December – Alan Milburn and the entire Social Mobility Commission quit their roles, citing ‘lack of political leadership’, a repeated refusal to properly resource and staff the commission, an obsession with Brexit and an ‘absence’ of policy.[140][141]
12 December – The UK's key inflation rate – the consumer prices index – rises to 3.1%, the highest level in nearly six years.[145]
13 December – After a rebellion by Tory MPs, the government is defeated in a key vote on Brexit, with MPs voting in favour of giving Parliament a say on the final deal struck with the EU.[146]
14 December – The Scottish government's budget proposes splitting the 20% income tax band into three with a new lower band of 19%, a 20% band, and a 21% band for those earning over £24,000.[147]
20 December – The EU announces that the UK's Brexit transition period will end no later than 31 December 2020.[148]
Events from the year 1986 in the United Kingdom. It is particularly noted for the "Big Bang" deregulation of the financial markets.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1944 to Wales and its people.
Events from the year 2012 in the United Kingdom. This was the year of the Summer Olympics in London as well as the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
Events from the year 2013 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 2014 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 2015 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 2016 in the United Kingdom. The year was dominated by the UK's vote to leave the European Union and the subsequent political fallout.
Events from the year 2017 in Scotland.
Events from the year 2018 in the United Kingdom.
Events from 2018 in England
Events from the year 2019 in the United Kingdom. Lack of agreement on how to proceed with withdrawing from the EU led to substantial political turmoil during this year culminating in the 2019 General election in which the pro-Brexit Conservative party gained a significant majority of seats.
Events from 2019 in England
Events from the year 2019 in Wales.
Events from the year 2020 in the United Kingdom. The COVID-19 pandemic largely dominated events in the UK during this year, as in most of the world.
The following notable deaths of British people occurred in 2023. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence:
The following notable deaths of British people occurred in 2024. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence:
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