2006 in the United Kingdom
2006 in the United Kingdom: |
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British and Irish current events |
British Grand Prix |
2006 English cricket season |
Football England | Scotland |
2006 in British music |
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest |
Events from the year 2006 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
Incumbents
- Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister - Tony Blair, Labour Party
Events
January
- January 7- Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
- January 20- River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.
February
- February 3- Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy in London in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
- February 9-
- Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats was the winner
- The Government announces that the Child Support Agency is to be abolished
- February 16- The 2006 BRIT Awards take place
- February 19- The 2006 BAFTA awards take place in London
- February 22-
- Securitas depot robbery- around £53 million (US$92 million) stolen in the largest cash robbery in British crime history
- The Prince of Wales's court case continues in the High Court against the Mail on Sunday as he tries to prevent the publication of his journals. Various revelations have been made such as that he considers himself to be a dissident, and his opinion of government officials in People's Republic of China whom he described as "appalling old waxworks"
- February 27- Writers Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh sue Random House in the High Court of Justice claiming that the best selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown contains ideas stolen from their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
March
- March 1- The Welsh Assembly Building is opened by the Queen.
- March 2-
- Sir Menzies Campbell elected leader of the Liberal Democrats following a election caused by the resignation of previous leader, Charles Kennedy.
- Four people killed in an explosion in a GlaxoSmithKline factory in Irvine, North Ayrshire
- March 7- The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva makes a state visit to the UK.
- March 14- Six men taking part in a clinical trial for a new anti-inflammatory drug TGN1412 are placed in intensive care, some in a life-threatening condition, after suffering adverse side-effects
- March 19- The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall begin a two week foreign tour to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.
- March 20- The British Press Awards 2006 were held at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London
- March 23- 2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis- British peacemaker, Norman Kember, and three Canadians rescued by SAS troops.
- March 28- Council workers across the UK strike over pension rights
April
- 7 April - Mr Justice Peter Smith delivers judgment in the copyright case over The Da Vinci Code finding that Dan Brown had not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The judgment itself contained a coded message on the whim of the judge. [1]
- April 12- Prince Harry of Wales passed out as a newly commissioned officer during the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
- April 18- Peugeot announces plans to close the 60-year-old car factory at Ryton near Coventry, which it bought off Chrysler in 1979, within the next year.
- April 21- Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday at Windsor. The Prince of Wales makes a televised address in tribute.
- April 26- The Duke of Edinburgh visits the Republic of Ireland. [1]
- April 27- By election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament. Richard Lochhead holds the seat for the Scottish National Party.
May
- May 4- Local government elections take place in some areas of England.
- May 5- Tony Blair reshuffles his cabinet. Charles Clarke is sacked as Home Secretary. Jack Straw is replaced as the Foreign Secretary by Margaret Beckett. John Prescott remains as Deputy Prime Minister, but losses responsibility for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
- May 20- Campaigners "Fathers 4 Justice" invade the set of the National Lottery.
June
- June 9–11- British Grand Prix held at Silverstone Circuit.
- June 25- Children's Party at the Palace held in honour of Queen's 80th birthday.
- June 29-
- Blaenau Gwent by-elections, 2006 independent candidates defeat Labour Party in parliamentary and Welsh Assembly by-elections.
- Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 won by Bob Neill for the Conservative Party.
July
- July 17- George W. Bush greets Tony Blair with the phrase "Yo, Blair".
- July 18- 180 British citizens evacuated from the Lebanon due to growing crisis between Hizbollah militants and Israel.
- July 20- HMS Bulwark prepares to evacuate British nationals from the Lebanon.
- July 4 - Sheridan v News International- Scottish Socialist Party MSP, Tommy Sheridan begins legal action against the News of the World for libel at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
August
- August 10- Police make many arrests in relation to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, and tight security measures are instigated at airports.
September
- September 2- Royal Air Force Nimrod crash in Afghanistan: 14 military personnel killed in Britain's worst single loss since the Falklands war.
- September 9 Helen Mirren awarded best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in The Queen, with her portrayal as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom following the events of the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales. [2]
- September 20 Television presenter Richard Hammond suffered a serious brain injury when he crashed a jet powered car whilst filming for Top Gear.
- September 25 Copmanthorpe rail crash - one man died when the 14:25 from Plymouth to Edinburgh operated by Virgin Trains hit a car at about 20:55.
October
- October 30 - The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is published by the UK government
November
- November 23 - Alexander Litvinenko poisoning: Alexander Litvinenko dies in London having been poisoned by Polonium 210. [3]
December
- December 7 - London Tornado of 2006: a tornado hits London.
- 2006 Ipswich murder investigation: the bodies of five murdered women were discovered at different locations near Ipswich in Suffolk
- December 12 - The Ryton car factory closes and Peugeot 206 production is transferred to Slovakia, several months ahead of the scheduled closure date.
- December 31- Hogmanay celebrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
Births
Deaths
- January 2 - John Woodnutt, actor (born 1924)
- January 5 - Merlyn Rees, former Home Secretary (born 1920)
- January 8- Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, former Labour Party MP and Minister for Sport (b 1943)
- January 24- Sir Nicholas Shackleton, geologist (b 1937)
- February 8 - Ron Greenwood, football manager West Ham United F.C. and England National Football Team (b. 1921)
- February 9 - Sir Freddie Laker, airline entrepreneur (b. 1922)
- February 13 - P. F. Strawson, philosopher (b. 1919)
- February 24 - Denis C. Twitchett, Cambridge scholar, and Chinese historian (b. 1925)
- February 27 - Linda Smith, comedian (b. 1958)
- March 1
- Hugh McCartney, Scottish politician (b. 1920)
- Peter Osgood, footballer (b. 1947)
- March 2 - Jack Wild, actor (b. 1952)
- March 9 - John Profumo, politician (b. 1915)
- March 24 - Lynne Perrie, actress (b. 1931)
- March 27 - Ruari McLean, typographic designer (b. 1917)
- April 6 - Leslie Norris, Anglo-Welsh poet and author (born 1921)
- April 13 - Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (b. 1918)
- April 17 - Calum Kennedy, Scottish singer (b. 1928)
- April 18 - John Lyall, football player and manager (b. 1940)
- April 24 - Brian Labone, footballer (b. 1940)
- April 25 - Peter Law, Welsh politician (b. 1948)
- May 8 - Iain MacMillan, photographer (b. 1938)
- May 10 - Val Guest, film director (b. 1911)
- May 19 - Freddie Garrity, singer (Freddie and the Dreamers) (b. 1940)
- 28 June - George Unwin, fighter ace WWII (b. 1913)
- July 1 - Fred Trueman, cricketer (b. 1931)
- July 7 - Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd (b. 1946)
- July 7 - Tom Weir, climber, author, and broadcaster (b. 1914)
- July 11 - John Spencer, snooker player (b. 1935)
- July 16 - Kevin Hughes, politician and MP for Doncaster North (b. 1952)
- July 18 - David Maloney, television director and producer (b. 1933
- July 20 - Ted Grant, politician (b. 1913)
- July 28 - David Gemmell, author (b. 1948)
- August 13 - Tony Jay, English-born actor (b. 1933)
- September 1 - Kyffin Williams, landscape painter (b. 1918)
- September 2 - Charlie Williams, comedian (b. 1928)
- September 5 - Anne Gregg travel writer and TV presenter (b. 1940)
- September 8 - Hilda Bernstein, English-born author, artist, and activist (b. 1915)
- September 9 - John Drummond, controller of BBC Radio 3 (b. 1934)
- September 14 - Peter Ling, Television writer and novelist (b. 1926)
- September 23 - Malcolm Arnold, composer (b. 1921)
- September 24 - Sally Gray, actress (b. 1916)
- September 28 - James Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, politician (b. 1938)
- October 4 - Tom Bell, actor (b. 1933)
- October 9 - Paul Hunter, snooker player (b. 1978)
- October 18 - Anna Russell, British-born comedian and music satirist (b. 1911)
- October 22 - Richard Mayes, actor (b. 1922)
- November 23 - Nick Clarke radio and television presenter (b. 1948)
- November 23 - Alexander Litvinenko, Russian defecter (b. 1962)
- November 27 - Alan Freeman DJ and radio personality (b. 1927, Australia)
- December 3 - Craig Hinton, writer (born 1964)
- December 23 - Charlie Drake, comedian (b. 1925)
- December 26 - Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC (born 1923)
- December 30 - Antony Lambton, politician (b. 1922)
References
- ^ Judge creates own Da Vinci code
- ^ Mirren crowned 'queen' at Venice. BBC. Retrieved on September 10, 2006.
- ^ Radiation found after spy's death BBC News