2005 in the United Kingdom

2005 in the United Kingdom
Other years
2003 | 2004 | 2005 (2005) | 2006 | 2007
Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

Events from the year 2005 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

January

February

  • 2 February
  • 6 February – Tony Blair becomes the longest-serving Labour Prime Minister, exceeding the combined record of Harold Wilson's two spells in power (1964–1970 and 1974–1976).[4]
  • 7 February – Ellen MacArthur attains the solo around the world sailing record, returning to Falmouth the following day. Although subsequently beaten, this remains a record for women (as of 2019).
  • 9 February
    • Prime Minister Tony Blair issues a public apology to the eleven members of the Conlon and McGuire families who were wrongly convicted for the Guildford and Woolwich IRA pub bombings of 1974 when seven people were killed. the surviving members of the families were released in 1989 when the scientific evidence against them was discredited.
    • The British survey ship HMS Scott produces the first sonar survey of the seabed site of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Some images appear to show a landslide 100 metres high and 2 kilometres long.
  • 10 February
  • 11 February – Prime Minister Tony Blair heralds what is described as the "officially unofficial" start to the general election campaign with a whistlestop tour of marginal constituencies, unveiling six election pledges.
  • 14 February
  • 15 February
    • Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, receives substantial damages from two British newspapers, The Sun and The Sunday Times, which alleged that the United States was correct to ban him from the country. The Sun has published, and the Sunday Times will publish, acknowledgements that he is not, and never has been, involved in or supported terrorism, and that he abhors all such activities. They also highlight that Islam was recently presented with the Man for Peace award by a group of Nobel Peace Laureates.
    • The European Court of Human Rights deciding about the so-called McLibel case rules in favour of environmental campaigners Helen Steel and David Morris and their claim that their trial was unfair. The pair said their human rights were violated when their criticism of McDonald's was ruled libel. The case has taken fifteen years.
  • 17 February
    • Irish police arrest four people in Cork and three in Dublin in raids concentrating on the financing of the Provisional IRA. Over £2,300,000 is seized in Cork, and £60,000 in Northern Bank notes believed to be from the £26,500,000 robbery in Belfast just before Christmas. Among the people arrested are reported to be a Sinn Féin councillor and someone working in the banking industry.
    • The BNFL nuclear plant at Sellafield, in the United Kingdom, reports that 30 kg (66 lb) of plutonium is "unaccounted for". This amount of missing plutonium would be sufficient to make seven atomic bombs. The UK Atomic Energy Authority states that the discrepancy in the record keeping is merely an auditing issue, and that there was no "real loss" of plutonium.
  • 18 February
  • 19 February – Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirm that £50,000 in unused Northern Bank notes found at Newforge Country Club, a facility for off-duty and retired police officers, is from the Northern Bank robbery. Police still consider it a diversion.
  • 21 February – The Royal Navy announces that it will allow same-sex couples to live in family quarters if they are in registered partnership.
  • 23 February – Three British soldiers are found guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners; on 25 February they are jailed for periods between five months and two years, and dismissed from the army. More British soldiers face the possibility of conviction.

March

April

May

  • 3 May – The last MORI poll before the general election puts Labour five points ahead of the Conservatives on 38%, with most observers predicting a Labour victory with a significantly reduced majority.
  • 4 May – Constantin Brâncuși's series of sculptures Bird in Space sold at Christie's auction house in London for the record amount of US$27,456,000.[2]
  • 5 May
  • 6 May – Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard, announces that he plans to resign "sooner rather than later".
  • 7 May – Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, resigns as UUP leader after losing his seat at the general election.
  • 9 May – The Sellafield nuclear plant's Thorp reprocessing facility in Cumbria, is closed down due to the confirmation of a 20 tonne leak of highly radioactive uranium and plutonium fuel through a fractured pipe.
  • 12 May – Malcolm Glazer gains control of Manchester United after securing a 70% share, ending more than thirty years of ownership by the Edwards family.
  • 17 May – George Galloway, Respect Party MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, appears before the United States Senate to defend himself against charges that he profited from Saddam Hussein's regime, launching a tirade against the Senators who had accused him and attacking the war in Iraq.[1]
  • 21 May – Arsenal become the first team to win the FA Cup on penalties, after they defeat Manchester United in a shootout that follows a nil-nil draw.
  • 25 May – Liverpool F.C win their fifth European Cup, defeating A.C Milan on penalties following a 3–3 draw after extra time in Istanbul. Liverpool's victory was notable for a remarkable comeback from 0–3 down at half time to level the match.
  • 27 May – Mark Hobson is sentenced to life imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court after admitting four charges of murder. On a killing spree in July last year, 35-year-old Hobson killed his girlfriend Claire Sanderson, her sister Diane Sanderson, as well as pensioners James and Joan Britton. The judge at the trial recommends that Hobson is never released from prison.
  • 31 May – Bob Geldof announces plans for a concert, Live 8, similar to Live Aid, which took place in 1985, to coincide with the G8 Summit in Edinburgh this July.

June

July

August

September

October

November

  • 1 November – Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall arrive in the United States for a state visit, their first overseas visit since their marriage.
  • 5 November – Britain's quadricentennial Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated, 400 years to the day of the Gunpowder Plot.[25]
  • 9 November – The Government loses a key House of Commons vote on detaining terrorism suspects for ninety days without charge, in the report stage of the Terrorism Bill.
  • 13 November – Andrew Stimpson, a 25-year-old man from Scotland, is reported as the first person proven to have been "cured" of HIV.[1]
  • 21 November – Alfred Anderson, one of the last surviving First World War veterans and the oldest man in Scotland, dies at the age of 109. He was also the last known survivor of the 1914 Christmas truce. There are now only approximately twenty surviving British veterans of the conflict, all over 100 years of age.[26]
  • 24 November
    • Pubs in England and Wales permitted to open for 24 hours for the first time.[27]
    • The Safeway name disappears from Britain after 43 years with the rebranding of the last remaining store by its owner Morrisons, which took over the supermarket chain in March 2004.
  • 25 November – The footballing world mourns George Best, the legendary former Manchester United and Northern Ireland player who dies from multiple organ failure in London following a seven-week illness at the age of 59. Best, an alcoholic for more than thirty years, had been admitted to hospital in early October suffering from an infection brought on by anti-rejection drugs that he had been taking since a liver transplant in 2002.
  • 30 November – Quadruple killer Mark Hobson loses a High Court appeal against his trial judge's recommendation that he should never be released from prison.

December

Undated

  • Summer – Guinness closes its Park Royal brewery in London.[33]
  • Internet access among the UK population has reached 70% (more than 40,000,000 people).

Publications

Births

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

Alan Truscott with his wife Dorothy

October

November

December

See also

References

  1. McGuinness, Ross (16 March 2009). "Metro". pp. 30, 31.
  2. Penguin Pocket on This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  3. "2005: Belfast stab victim McCartney dies". BBC News. 31 January 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  4. "2005: Blair is Labour's longest-serving PM". BBC News. 6 February 2005.
  5. "Charles and Camilla to be married". BBC News. 10 February 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  6. "Arrests as coursing event starts". BBC News. 14 February 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
  7. "Ban on hunting comes into force". BBC News. 18 February 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  8. "Knighthood for Microsoft's Gates". BBC News. 2 March 2005. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  9. Waugh, Paul (16 March 2005). "One million blue collar jobs lost with Labour". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  10. "Prince Charles marries Camilla". BBC News. 9 April 2005. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  11. "Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 (s.10)". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1 June 2005. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  12. "Blair secures historic third term". BBC News. 5 May 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  13. "Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005". OPSI. 2005. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  14. "Littlewoods shops sold for £409m". BBC News. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  15. "St Edmundsbury Marks End of an Era". Skyscrapernews.com. 23 July 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  16. "IRA declares end to armed struggle". BBC News. 28 July 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  17. "England win the Ashes". BBC News. 12 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  18. Extradited three arrive in Glasgow | Herald Scotland
  19. BBC News | UK | Scotland | Glasgow and West | Kriss murder timeline
  20. "National Waterfront Museum Swansea now open". World Architecture News.com. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  21. "National Waterfront Museum". City and County of Swansea. 21 February 2007. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  22. Skyscraper News
  23. "Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night". bonfirenight.net. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  24. "Prince in tribute to war veteran". Scotland: BBC News. 21 November 2005. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  25. "Pubs open 24 hours". BBC News. 24 November 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  26. "David Cameron is new Tory leader". BBC News. 6 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  27. "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2005". Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  28. "Massive fire at Buncefield oil depot". BBC News. 11 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  29. "Voting intention in Great Britain 1976–present". Ipsos MORI. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  30. The first legal civil partnership took place on 5 December between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The statutory 15-day waiting period after giving notice was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the following day. "'Gay wedding' man dies of cancer". BBC News. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
  31. Fabb, Debbie (23 November 2007). "Last orders for Guinness?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  32. Morton, James (13 December 2005). "Obituary: Dame Rose Heilbron". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
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