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2013 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 2013 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

January

February

March

April

  • 1 April – Police Scotland begins operations, merging all the former forces in the country.
  • 3 April – 17-year-old Paris Brown is appointed as the first youth Police and Crime Commissioner by Kent PCC Ann Barnes. Her job is to represent young people's views on policing in Kent.
  • 8 April – former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies in London following a stroke. Street parties are held in a number of cities across the UK to "celebrate".

May

  • 2 May
  • James McCormick is jailed for ten years at the Old Bailey.
  • 2013 local elections show gains for the Labour Party and UKIP and losses for the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party.
  • Labour's Emma Lewell-Buck retains the South Shields Parliamentary seat for the party following the by-election triggered by the resignation of David Miliband. However, Labour's majority is reduced significantly after the UK Independence Party secures almost a quarter of the votes cast.
  • 8 May – Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in English football during his 27 years as manager of Manchester United, announces his retirement after the end of the Premier League season later in the month.
  • 9 May – David Moyes, who has managed Everton for 11 years during which they have qualified for European competitions on five occasions, is announced as the successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.
  • 11 May – Wigan Athletic win the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Manchester City. Ben Watson scores the winning goal, a header from Shaun Maloney's corner, in the 90th minute of the game.
  • 13 May – Stuart Hazell, 38, admits the murder of Tia Sharp, 12-year-old granddaughter of his partner Christine Sharp, who was found dead in New Addington, London, nine months ago. His murder trial began six days ago but he has previously denied the charge against him.
  • 14 May
  • The Conservative Party publishes a draft European Union (Referendum) Bill aimed at holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union by 2017. Prime Minister David Cameron had previously said a referendum would be held if he could renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership, but Tory MPs have been unhappy that legislation for a referendum was not included in the recent Queen's Speech.
  • Stuart Hazell is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey with a recommended minimum term of 38 years.
  • Three days after winning the FA Cup, Wigan Athletic are relegated from the Premier League after a 4–1 defeat to Arsenal, making history as the first team to win the FA Cup and get relegated in the same season.
  • 15 May
  • In the House of Commons, an amendment to the Queen's Speech expressing regret that it did not contain legislation for a referendum on Britain's EU membership is defeated 277–131.
  • MPs debate government proposals to tighten the law governing dangerous dogs following the death of Jade Anderson in March. The legislation would give police greater powers to deal with attacks on private property.
  • 16 May – UKIP leader Nigel Farage is heckled by angry protesters during a campaign visit to Edinburgh.
  • 21 May – MPs vote 366–161 in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill taking an important step towards allowing gay marriage in England and Wales.
  • 22 May – murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich: off-duty British soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby, a former drummer serving with 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, is killed in the street. Two men carrying knives and a meat cleaver are subsequently apprehended by police. The government treats the killing as a terrorist incident. The victim's identity is confirmed the following day.
  • 24 May – a 24-year-old zoo worker is seriously injured after being attacked by a Sumatran tiger at South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria. Sarah McClay subsequently dies in hospital as a result of her injuries. Police launch an investigation into the attack.
  • 25 May – 48 people are rescued from a boat which begins taking on water after colliding with a rock off the coast of Pembrokeshire.
  • 30 May – a court in Mold, Wales, finds Mark Bridger guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones in October 2012. The trial judge recommends that 47-year-old Bridger should never be released from prison. The body of April Jones has not been found.
  • 31 May – Conservative MP Patrick Mercer resigns the Tory whip following allegations he broke the rules on lobbying. He will not contest his seat in the next general election.

June

July

  • 6 July – John Prescott resigns from the Privy council in protest at delays to changes in press regulations.
  • 7 July
  • Abu Qatada, a Muslim cleric with alleged links to al-Qaeda is deported to Jordan from the UK to face charges of terrorism.
  • Andy Murray wins the Men's Singles at Wimbledon 2013 defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets. Murray becomes the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
  • 9 July
  • Ed Miliband says he will end the automatic "affiliation" fee paid by three million union members to the Labour Party after Unite the Union was accused of secretly signing up its members to get its favoured candidate elected in the Falkirk constituency.
  • A man who posted threats to kill 200 people on social networking site Facebook leading to school closures in the US state of Tennessee is jailed for 28 months at Newcastle Crown Court.
  • The option of imposing a whole life tariff for the worst murders in England and Wales is ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights following a legal challenge by three convicted murderers serving such sentences. They are Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore, who are among a group of at least 49 prisoners in England and Wales serving such sentences. The sentence is not an option in Scotland.
  • 11 July – party leaders criticise Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority recommendations to increase MPs annual salaries by £6,000 to £74,000 from 2015.
  • 12 July – the funeral of murdered fusilier Lee Rigby takes place in Bury; attendees include Prime Minister David Cameron.
  • 13 July – two soldiers die during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons on one of the hottest days of the year. The Ministry of Defence works with Dyfed-Powys Police to investigate. On 30 July a third soldier dies in hospital.
  • 15 July – the House of Lords approves the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, enabling gay marriages to take place in England and Wales from 2014.
  • 16 July – Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announces that eleven hospitals will be placed in special measures because of major failings.
  • 17 July
  • Rising temperatures lead to heat health warnings being issued for Southern England and the Midlands in the UK's first prolonged heatwave since 2006.
  • Same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 receives Royal Assent.
  • 22 July
  • Prime Minister David Cameron announces plans for every household in the UK to have pornography automatically blocked by their internet provider unless they choose otherwise. The possession of online material depicting rape will also become illegal in England and Wales, bringing them into line with current Scottish legislation.
  • The UK records its hottest day since July 2006, with 33.5C (92.3F) recorded at Heathrow and Northolt in west London.
  • Home Office "Go Home" vans begin to tour areas of London with high immigrant populations.
  • Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (now Princess of Wales) gives birth to a boy at St Mary's Hospital, London who becomes third in line to the throne and Queen Elizabeth II's third great-grandchild. He is subsequently named George Alexander Louis.
  • 23 July – overnight thunderstorms bring the three-week heat wave to an end.
  • 27 July – six people are taken to hospital after a double-decker bus has its roof ripped off by a bridge in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
  • 31 July – administrators recommend the dissolution of Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust after it went into administration in April.

August

  • 1 August – temperatures of 33.7C are recorded at Heathrow Airport and 34.1 in London – the hottest since 2006 – as the hot weather makes a brief return. The Met Office says it is the hottest day since 2003 and the warmest summer since 2006.
  • 2 August – Magdelena Luczak and her partner, Mariusz Krezolek, are jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for the murder of Luczak's four-year-old son Daniel Pelka, who was beaten, and starved to death.
  • 3 August – Tony Wang, head of Twitter, apologises after women received bombing and rape threats by users of the site. The apology comes as the company updates its rules to help clamp down on threats and harassment.
  • 5 August – the world's first lab-grown burger – produced from bovine stem cells – is cooked and eaten at a news conference in London.
  • 6 August – it is reported that sewage workers from Thames Water have removed a fifteen ton bus-sized "fatberg" – thought to be Britain's largest – from a sewer beneath London, after the mass caused a 95% blockage and threatened to send raw sewage spurting from manhole covers.
  • 7 August – Bank of England governor Mark Carney says the Bank will not consider raising interest rates until the unemployment rate has fallen to 7% or below.
  • 10 August – 56 police officers are injured in Belfast after a night of loyalist rioting.
  • 11 August – two women who are UK nationals have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs from Peru, the country's police confirm.
  • 19 August
  • Senior politicians urge police to explain why the partner of a Guardian journalist who published leaked documents from US whistleblower Edward Snowden was detained at Heathrow Airport for nine hours.
  • Green MP Caroline Lucas and her son are among protesters arrested at a site in West Sussex where energy firm Cuadrilla is drilling for oil.
  • Chief executive of the UK Independence Party, Will Gilpin steps down from his post.
  • 20 August – Britons Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid are formally charged with attempting to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru. They are remanded in custody the following day.
  • 21 August – an inspection report reveals that a female inmate at HMP Bronzefield was kept in solitary confinement for more than five years.
  • 22 August – Yes Scotland is forced to close its computer systems after being hacked by "forces unknown". Police Scotland's Digital Forensic Unit launches an investigation but uncovers no evidence of criminality.
  • 23 August – a Super Puma L2 helicopter crashes near Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands, resulting in four fatalities among the oil rig workers being carried. Operation of the helicopter model is globally suspended.
  • 27 August – David Cameron recalls Parliament from its summer recess to discuss responses to the Syrian crisis in the wake of a chemical weapons attack in Damascus.
  • 29 August
  • MPs vote 285–272 against the principle of British involvement in any military intervention in the Syrian conflict.
  • Members of the Fire Brigades Union vote to take industrial action in a dispute over pensions, threatening the first firefighters' strike across England, Scotland and Wales since 2002.

September

  • 3 September – the Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in the UK, is opened.
  • 5 September – sixty people are injured as more than 130 vehicles are involved in a series of crashes in thick fog on the Sheppey Crossing in Kent.
  • 7 September – a man is arrested on suspicion of burglary, trespass and criminal damage after scaling a fence to get into Buckingham Palace.
  • 10 September – MP Nigel Evans resigns as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons after being charged with sexual offences.
  • 11 September – Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps writes to the UN Secretary General demanding an explanation after a UN official criticised housing benefit changes as a "disgrace".
  • 14 September – Robert Lund, who was convicted of the 1999 murder of his wife Evelyn, is released from prison in France.
  • 20 September – UKIP withdraws the party whip from MEP Godfrey Bloom after he referred to female activists as "sluts" during his party's annual conference.
  • 24 September – at its annual conference, Labour leader Ed Miliband says that if elected in 2015, his party would freeze energy prices for their first 20 months in office.
  • 25 September
  • Firefighters in England and Wales stage a four-hour strike in a dispute over changes to their pensions.
  • Chessington World of Adventures bans animal print clothing because it says animals at the wildlife park find it confusing.
  • 27 September – Prime Minister David Cameron rejects an invitation for a head-to-head TV debate on Scottish independence with Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond

October

  • 3 October – The Mail on Sunday editor Geordie Greig issues an unreserved apology to Ed Miliband after a reporter was sent to a private memorial service for one of his relatives in an attempt to gather opinions from his family about a recent Daily Mail article that had accused the Labour Leader's late father, Ralph of hating Britain. Two reporters are suspended as a result of the incident.
  • 7 October – launch of the National Crime Agency, a new body designed to tackle some of Britain's most serious crimes.
  • 8 October
  • Banks begin to unveil details of the mortgages they will offer under the government's expanded Help to Buy scheme.
  • The Scottish Government announces that the loss making Prestwick Airport in Glasgow is to be taken into public ownership.
  • British physicist Peter Higgs is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of the Higgs boson.
  • 10 October – Justice Minister Jeremy Wright confirms that former Liberian President Charles Taylor will serve his jail sentence for war crimes in the UK.
  • 11 October – the UK government publishes a draft Royal Charter aimed at underpinning self-regulation of the press following an agreement by the three main political parties. However, the proposals are greeted with concerns about press freedom by the industry. Proposals put forward by the press has previously been rejected by the Privy council.
  • 15 October – Charles Taylor arrives in the UK to serve the remainder of his 50-year prison sentence, the first head of state to be convicted of war crimes since World War II.
  • 18 October – a planned firefighters strike in England and Wales for the following day is called off at the eleventh hour, following progress in talks over pensions.
  • 19 October – The Sidemen are formed.
  • 20 October – about 100 homes are damaged when a "tornado" hits Hayling Island in Hampshire.
  • 21 October – the government approves Hinkley Point C, the first nuclear plant to be constructed in the UK since 1995. Originally due to be completed in 2023, completion is now due in 2028. The plant is intended to remain operational for 60 years, supplying about 7% of the country's electricity.
  • 22 October – former Prime Minister Sir John Major calls for the government to levy a windfall tax on Britain's energy companies after three of the six major gas and electricity suppliers raise their prices by between eight and ten percent.
  • 23 October – Prime Minister David Cameron announces a review of green energy taxes after saying they had pushed up household bills to "unacceptable" levels.
  • 26 October – the Rugby League World Cup begins.
  • 28 October – St Judes Day storm: 99 mph gust recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight
  • 30 October – the Privy council grants a Royal charter on press regulations after the newspaper industry loses a last minute legal bid to seek an injunction against the plans.

November

  • 1 November – firefighters in England and Wales stage a four and a half-hour strike in a row over pension ages, as "contingency" crews battle a large scrapyard blaze in London.
  • 14 November – the last living British person to be born in the 1800s, Grace Jones, dies aged 113.
  • 18 November – Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes a decision by search engine companies Google and Microsoft to block online images of child abuse.
  • 20 November – the General Synod of the Church of England votes in favour of legislation to allow the ordination of women as bishops by 2014.
  • 21 November
  • Former non-executive chairman of the Co-operative Bank Paul Flowers is arrested by police in a drugs supply investigation, having been exposed agreeing to buy cocaine and methamphetamine by The Mail on Sunday newspaper. Flowers is also suspended from the Labour Party and Methodist Church as a result of the allegations.
  • It is reported that three women believed to have been held as slaves for the last three decades were rescued from a residence in London on 25 October.
  • 23 November – The fiftieth anniversary of science fiction TV series Doctor Who is celebrated with the broadcast and cinema screenings of the anniversary special The Day of the Doctor
  • 26 November – Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond launches the Scottish Government's White Paper setting out its vision for an independent Scotland.
  • 27 November – following a trial at Northampton Crown Court, businessman Anxiang Du is convicted of the 2011 murder of a family of four in a revenge attack after losing a legal case against them.
  • 29 November – eight people are killed and 19 seriously injured after a police helicopter crashes into The Clutha pub in Glasgow.

December

  • 4 December – pig semen exports from Britain to China are the subject of a protocol signed in Beijing by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson as part of a trade mission that includes the Prime Minister, David Cameron. The Chinese wish to improve their semen stock from boars in England and Northern Ireland.
  • 5 December – Cyclone Bodil hits the UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, disrupting traffic and causing widespread damage amid fears of flooding along the North Sea coast.
  • 15 December – Andy Murray wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013.
  • 16 December – Home Secretary Theresa May announces draft legislation to introduce tougher prison sentences for people convicted of offences relating to human trafficking.
  • 19 December – part of the ornate ceiling of the Apollo Theatre in London collapses during a performance, injuring at least 81 people in the audience.
  • 20 December – following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court, sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, who worked as personal assistants to food writer Nigella Lawson and her husband Charles Saatchi for several years, are found not guilty on charges of stealing from the couple.
  • 23 December
  • Former MP Denis MacShane is sentenced to six months in jail for expenses fraud after he admitted to submitting 19 false receipts totalling £12,900.
  • World War II computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing, who had been chemically castrated in 1952 following his conviction for homosexuality, is given a posthumous royal pardon.

Publications

Births

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See also

References

Further reading

External links