2005 in the United Kingdom

2005 in the United Kingdom:

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2005 English cricket season

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2005 in British music

Events from the year 2005 in the United Kingdom.

Events

January

• 1 January -
  • New Year's celebrations all over the UK fall silent for two minutes as a mark of respect for those who died in the tsunami.
  • The Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations come into force.
  • New Chip and PIN legislation comes into effect today. It makes retailers liable for fraudulent transactions if they have failed to sign up to the scheme.
• 2 January -
  • Operation Garron, the British military aid effort for victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake is launched.
• January 5- Funeral of Angus Ogilvy, husband of Princess Alexandra, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
• 8 January -
  • The BBC broadcasts Jerry Springer - The Opera despite receiving at least 45,000 complaints. BBC Director-General
  • After a night of stormy weather a ferry has run aground on Scotland's coast, with passengers remaining on board rather than evacuating in stormy weather. Extensive flooding has occurred in Carlisle as well as other locations in Britain and many homes are without power.
• 12 January - Britain's tallest self-supporting sculpture, the "B of the Bang", is unveiled in Manchester by Linford Christie.
• 13 January -
  • Pictures of Prince Harry wearing a Nazi military uniform at a private "fancy dress" party are published in the newspapers.
  • Sir Mark Thatcher is fined three million Rand (approximately £265,000), and receives a four-year suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to supplying equipment to mercenaries for an attempted coup of Equatorial Guinea.
• 15 January - Conservative Member of Parliament Robert Jackson, MP for Wantage, Oxfordshire, defects to the Labour Party
• 20 January - Carolyn Leckie, a member of the Scottish Parliament, is jailed for seven days for non-payment of a fine arising from a protest at Faslane nuclear base.
• 22 January - 61,000 people attended the concert in aid of tsunami victims at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which raised over £1.25 million. Artists performing in the largest concert in Britain since Live Aid include Charlotte Church, Craig David, Goldie Lookin' Chain, Aled Jones, Badly Drawn Boy, Manic Street Preachers, Lulu and Eric Clapton.
• 24 January - Hoaxer Christopher Pierson, who sent emails to relatives of people missing in the Indian Ocean tsunami from an AOL account purporting to be from the Foreign Office and claiming to confirm that the relatives were dead, is jailed for six months.
• 26 January -
  • Four Britons returned to the UK after being detained at Guantanamo Bay for up to three years are released from police cutody without charge.
  • Rodney Marsh, the former England national football star, is fired from his position as a pundit on Sky Sports because of a joke he made live on air concerning the Asian Tsunami.
• 29 January - Chris Smith, the former British Culture Secretary, reveals that he has been HIV positive for 17 years.

February

• 2 February -
  • The Provisional IRA issue a statement to the Republican newspaper An Phoblacht withdrawing from its commitment to the decommissioning of weapons and other deals related to the Northern Ireland peace process.
  • Two firefighters and a member of the public die in a fire on the 14th and 15th floors of a 17-storey tower block in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Seven other people are hospitalised, one in serious condition, and 70 people are evacuated from the block.
  • Robert Kilroy-Silk officially launches the Veritas political party, on an anti-immigration platform, after quitting the eurosceptic UK Independence Party following a failed leadership bid.
• 7 February - Englishwoman Ellen MacArthur sets a record for the quickest round-the-world solo sail. She completed the 27,354 mile journey in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds, breaking the old record of 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds, set by Francis Joyon in 2004, which itself took 20 days off the previous record.
• 9 February -
  • Prime Minister Tony Blair issues a public apology to the 11 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 earthquake. Some images appear to show a landslide 100 metres high and 2 kilometres long.
• 10 February 2005 -
  • The House of Commons passes the Identity Cards Bill at its third reading by 224 votes to 64, with a majority of 160. Most of the Conservative Party's MPs abstain. 19 Labour MPs and 11 Conservative MPs defy the whip and vote against the bill, which now moves on to the House of Lords.
  • Clarence House announces that Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles on Friday 8 April in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle. She will be styled "HRH The Duchess of Cornwall", and when Charles becomes king, "HRH The Princess Consort".
• 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 2005 -
  • Hare coursing: As the final Waterloo Cup event in England starts in Altcar, four anti-coursing protesters are arrested. The event is expected to attract up to 10,000 spectators over its 3 days. (BBC)
  • London's mayor Ken Livingstone is censured by the London Assembly for comparing a Jewish journalist for the Evening Standard to a concentration camp guard. Livingstone refuses to withdraw his comments.
• February 15 2005 -
  • 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, acknowledgments 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 15 years.
• February 17 -
  • Irish police arrest four people in Cork and three in Dublin in raids concentrating on the financing of the Provisional IRA. Over 2.3 million pounds sterling were seized in Cork, and £60,000 in Northern Bank notes believed to be from the £26.5 million 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.
• February 18 2005 -
  • The UK Food Standards Agency orders the withdrawal of over 350 food products from sale following the discovery that a batch of chilli powder used to produce a batch of Worcester sauce subsequently used to produce processed foods was contaminated with the possibly-carcinogenetic dye Sudan I.
  • The Hunting Act, the ban on hunting with dogs, comes into force. Its opponents intend to challenge the law and hunt.
• Sir Mark Thatcher returns to court in Cape Town, South Africa, to answer charges about his involvement in a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
  • Northern Bank robbery investigation:
    • Police in Northern Ireland recover a sum of money at a sports and social club in Belfast frequented by members of the PSNI. It is thought to perhaps be a diversion, but it is being investigated.
    • A top Irish businessman and associate of the Taoiseach, Phil Flynn, steps down from a number of positions pending the outcome of a Garda investigation into Chesterton Finance, of which he is a non-executive director. He stepped down as chairman of a government body overseeing decentralisation, as well as giving up a position on the board of VHI and as chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland). (Ireland Online)
    • A man is arrested by Gardaí near Passage West in Cork, after he was discovered attempting to burn sterling banknotes.
    • Gardaí have released two men who were being questioned in Dublin, as well as a Sinn Féin member in Cork. A suspected Real IRA member arrested at Heuston Station has been remanded in custody, as have four people arrested in Farran in County Cork.
    • Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has denies any involvement on the part of his party with money laundering in the country. The Irish Government Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has described the IRA as a colossal crime machine laundering huge sums of money.
• February 19 - Police in Northern Ireland confirm that £50,000 in unused Northern Banknotes found at Newforge Country Club, a facility for off-duty and retired police officers, was from the Northern Bank robbery. Police still consider it a diversion.
• February 21 - The Royal Navy announces that it will allow same-sex couples to live in family quarters if they are in registered partnership.
• February 23 - Three British soldiers are found guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners; more British soldiers face the possibility of conviction.
• February 25 - Three British soldiers convicted earlier this week of abusing Iraqi prisoners are jailed for periods between five months and two years, and dismissed from the army.

March

• March 1- The New Forest becomes England's 12th national park
• March 3- Sinn Féin suspends seven members over their alleged involvement in the murder of Belfast man, Robert McCartney, who was killed on January 30
• March 11- The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 receives the Royal Assent

April

• April 5- The Prime Minister, Tony Blair asks the Queen for a dissolution of Parliament for a general election on May 5
• April 7- The last British-owned volume car maker, MG Rover is placed in receivership.
• April 9- The Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles in a 20-minute ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, which is followed by a blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

May

• May 5-
  • United Kingdom general election, 2005- The Labour Party is returned to power, with a reduced majority of 66.
  • A bomb explodes outside the British consulate in New York
• May 6- Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard, announces that he plans to resign "sooner rather than later".
• May 7- Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, resigns the leadership after losing his seat in the general election.
• May 9- 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.
• May 12- Malcolm Glazer wins control of Manchester United F.C. after securing a 70% share
• May 17- George Galloway, British MP, 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.
• May 31- 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

• June 17- the Ugandan-born bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu is named the new Archbishop of York. He is the first ever black person to be appointed an Archbishop of the Church of England.
• June 23- Prince William of Wales graduates from the University of St Andrews. The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attend.
• June 24- The IRA apologises unreservedly to the family of 14-year old Kathleen Feeney, whom it shot dead in Londonderry in November 1973. The IRA had previously blamed the British Army for the killing.
• June 28- In the Solent, the Queen conducts a Fleet Review of 167 naval, merchant and tall ships from the UK and 35 other nations to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

July

• July 1- Tony Blair assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• July 5- Riots in Edinburgh by anti-capitalist and anti-G8 protestors.
• July 6-
  • The 31st G8 summit, hosted by the UK, begins at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
  • London is chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games, beating Paris in the final round of votes 54 to 50.
• July 7- 7 July 2005 London bombings- a series of co-ordinated suicide bombings strike London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three bombs exploded within 50 seconds of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus at an hour later in Tavistock Square.
• July 14- A two minute silence is held across Europe at 12:00 BST to remember the victims of the London bombings.
• July 17- The Duchess of Cornwall is granted a Royal coat of arms by the Earl Marshal of the College of Arms.
• July 21- 21 July 2005 London bombings- four attempted bomb attacks disrupt part of London's public transport. Small explosions occur around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on London Underground, and on a bus in Bethnal Green.
• July 22- Metropolitan Police shot and kill Jean Charles de Menezes, believed to be a suicide bomber.
• July 29- Two of the suspects of the July 21st attempted bombings in London are arrested in north Kensington, the fourth is arrested in Rome.

August

• August 11- British Airways grounds all flights as baggage handlers, loaders and bus drivers strike in support of 800 workers sacked by flight catering company Gate Gourmet. The strike is also affecting other airlines, causing chaos at London Heathrow Airport
• August 12- The radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed is barred from returning to the UK after Home Secretary Charles Clarke cancels the indefinite leave to return Mohammed was given after claiming asylum in 1986.
• August 21- Victory over Japan Day: A service is held at London's Cenotaph to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II. The Prince of Wales is in attendance, as are survivors of the Far East campaign.

September

• September 14- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, announces that the government no longer recognises loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force's ceasefire, due to the UVF's on-going feud with the Loyalist Volunteer Force, and recent violence against the police.
• September 26- Head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, general John de Chastelain announces in a Belfast press conference that the arsenal of the Provisional Irish Republican Army has been "put beyond use", including guns, ammunition, mortars and explosives.

October

• October 17- The Conservative Party begin voting on a new leader following the resignation of Michael Howard

November

• November 1- The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrive in the United States for a state visit, their first overseas tour since their marriage.
• November 9- The Government loses a key House of Commons vote on detaining terrorism suspects for 90-days without charge, in the report stage of the Terrorism Bill.
• November 13- Andrew Stimpson, a 25-year old man from Scotland, is reported as the first person proven to have been 'cured' of HIV.

December

• December 6- David Cameron is elected Leader of the Conservative Party, defeating David Davis.
• December 11- 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire- explosions tear through an oil storage facility located near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
• December 19- The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 comes into force. The first "gay weddings" are held in Northern Ireland, granting same-sex couples similar legal rights to heterosexual couples.
• December 22- Tony Blair makes a surpise visit to British forces in Iraq.

Births

Deaths

• March 26 - James Callaghan, former Prime Minister (b. 1912)
• April 23 - Sir John Mills, Actor (b. 1908)
• May 25 - Robert Jankel, Coachbuilder (b. 1938)
• July 17 - Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister (b. 1916)
• July 19 - John Tyndall, Politician (b. 1934)
• August 6 - Robin Cook, Former Foreign Secretary (b. 1946)
• August 19- Mo Mowlam, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (b. 1949)
• October 3 - Ronnie Barker, Comic actor (b. 1929)
• November 25th - George Best, Footballer (b. 1946)

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