1971 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1971 in the United Kingdom. The year was marked by the introduction of decimal currency.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Edward Heath

Events

January

1 January – The Divorce Reform Act 1969 came into effect in England and Wales, allowing couples to divorce after a separation of two years. A divorce can also be granted on the grounds that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, and it is not essential for either partner to prove "fault". It was revealed on 19 January 1972 that the number of divorces in the United Kingdom during 1971 exceeded 100,000 for the first time.
2 January – Ibrox disaster: a stairway crush at the Rangers vs. Celtic football match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow killed 66 and left many more injured.
3 January – BBC Open University broadcasts began.
8 January – Tupamaros kidnapped Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo; they kept him captive until September.
12 January – The Hertfordshire house of Robert Carr, Secretary of State for Employment, was bombed. Nobody was injured. On 14 January, "The Angry Brigade", an extremist group, admitted responsibility for this bombing, as well as planting a bomb at the Department of Employment offices at Westminster.
20 January – The first ever postal workers' strike took place, led by UPW General Secretary Tom Jackson, in an attempt to win a 19.5% pay rise.
21 January – After collapsing in March 1969, a newly reconstructed Emley Moor transmitter in West Yorkshire started transmitting again. Now a concrete tower, at 1084 feet, it is the United Kingdom's tallest freestanding structure.
23 January – The first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Singapore, gave the United Kingdom permission to sell weapons to South Africa.

February

1 February – The Broadcast receiver licence was abolished for radios and stamp duty abolished on cheques, receipts and promissory notes.
3 February – Tyneside-set British crime film Get Carter starring Michael Caine premièred.
4 February – Rolls-Royce went bankrupt and was nationalised.
11 February – The UKalong with the USA, the USSR and otherssigned the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
15 February
*Decimalisation: Decimal Day: the UK and the Republic of Ireland both switched to decimal currency.
* Enoch Powell predicted an "explosion" unless there was a massive repatriation scheme for the immigrants.
24 February – Home Secretary Reginald Maudling announced the Immigration Bill that was set to strip Commonwealth immigrants of their right to remain in the United Kingdom. The bill was supported by Enoch Powell, but the former shadow cabinet minister continued to demand a massive voluntary repatriation scheme for the immigrants.

March

1 March
* An estimated 120,000 to 250,000 "kill the bill" protesters went on strike against the 1971 Industrial Relations Act in London.
* The Vehicle & General insurance company collapsed leaving 500,000 motorists uninsured.
7 March – Following the recent protests in London, some 10,000 striking workers protested in Glasgow against the Industrial Relations Bill.
8 March – The national postal workers' strike ended after 47 days. Among alternatives privately offered during the strike was the Vectis postal service.

April

1 April – The United Kingdom lifted all restrictions on gold ownership with the Exchange Control Order 1971. Since 1966 British citizens had been banned from holding more than four gold coins or from buying any new ones unless they held a licence.
11 April – Ten British Army soldiers were injured in rioting in Derry, Northern Ireland.
15 April – The planned Barbican Centre in London was given the go-ahead.
18 April – There was a serious fire at Kentish Town West railway station. The station remained closed until 5 October 1981.
19 April – Unemployment reached a post-Second World War high of nearly 815,000.
27 April
* Eight members of the Welsh Language Society went on trial for destroying English language road signs in Wales.
* British Leyland launched the Morris Marina which succeeded the Minor and Oxford models and was similar in size to the Ford Cortina, Vauxhall Victor and Hillman Hunter. It had 1.3 and 1.8 litre petrol engines, rear-wheel drive and a choice of four-door family saloon and two-door coupé body styles, with a five-door estate set to follow in the next two years.

May

1 May
* A bomb planted by the Angry Brigade exploded in the Biba Kensington store.
* The Daily Mail appeared as a broadsheet newspaper for the last time, being relaunched the following day as a tabloid.
8 May – Arsenal won the FA Cup final with a 2–1 win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium. Eddie Kelly became the first substitute to score in an FA Cup final, and it was only the second time this century that an English team has completed the double of the Football League First Division and the FA Cup.
11 May – The Daily Sketch, the United Kingdom's oldest tabloid newspaper, was withdrawn from circulation after 62 years and absorbed by the Daily Mail.
20 May – Chelsea F.C., last year's FA Cup winners, won the European Cup Winners' Cup with a 2–1 win over Real Madrid of Spain in Athens, Greece.
23 May – Jackie Stewart won the Monaco Grand Prix.

June

7 June – The children's show Blue Peter buried a time capsule in the grounds of BBC Television Centre, due to be opened on the first episode of the year 2000.
14 June
* The first Hard Rock Cafe opened near Hyde Park Corner in London.
* Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher's proposals to end free school milk for children aged over seven years were backed by a majority of 33 MPs.
15 June
* Several Labour run councils threatened to increase rates in order to continue the free supply of milk to school children aged over seven years, in reaction to Thatcher's plans to end free milk supply to school children of that age group. Thatcher defended her plans, saying that the change would free more money to be spent on the construction of new school buildings.
* Upper Clyde Shipbuilders entered liquidation.
20 June – The United Kingdom announced that Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedoseyev had been granted asylum.
21 June – The United Kingdom began new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg.
24 June – The EEC agreed terms for the United Kingdom's proposed membership and it was hoped that the nation will join the EEC next year.
25-27 June – The first Reading Festival "of jazz and progressive music" took place.

July

1 July – The film Sunday Bloody Sunday was released, one of the first mainstream British films with a bisexual theme.
6 July – Police launched a murder investigation after three French tourists were found shot dead in Cheshire.
8 July – Two rioters were shot dead by British troops in Derry, Northern Ireland.
13 July – Barlaston man Michael Bassett, 24, was found dead in his fume-filled car. Police identified him as their prime suspect in the recent triple French tourist murder in Cheshire.
14 July – The Criminal Damage Act abolished the - theoretically capital - offence of arson in royal dockyards.
22 July – A BOAC flight from London to Khartoum is ordered to land at Benghazi where two leaders of the unsuccessful 1971 Sudanese coup d'état, travelling as passengers, are forced to leave the plane and subsequently executed.
23 July – The final section of London Underground's Victoria line, from Victoria to Brixton, was opened by Princess Alexandra. Pimlico tube station, however, was not ready in time and remained closed.
29 July – The United Kingdom opted out of the Space Race, with the cancellation of development on its Black Arrow launch vehicle.
30 July – Upper Clyde Shipbuilders workers began to take control of the shipyards in a work-in under the leadership of Jimmy Reid.

August

6 August – Chay Blyth became the first person to sail around the world east to west against the prevailing winds.
9 August – British security forces in Northern Ireland detained hundreds of guerrilla suspects and put them into Long Kesh prison – the beginning of an internment without trial policy. Twenty died in the riots that followed, including 11 in the Ballymurphy Massacre.
11 August – Prime Minister Edward Heath participated in the British victory in the Admiral's Cup yacht race.
14 August – The Who released their critically acclaimed album Who's Next.
15 August – Showjumper Harvey Smith was stripped of his victory in the British Show Jumping Derby by judges for making a V sign.

September

1 September – The pre-decimal penny and threepence ceased to be legal tender.
3 September – Qatar gained independence from the United Kingdom. Unlike most nearby emirates, it declined to become part of either the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
7 September – The death toll in the Troubles of Northern Ireland reached 100 after three years with the death of 14-year-old Annette McGavigan, who was fatally wounded by a gunshot in crossfire between British soldiers and the IRA.
9 September – British ambassador Geoffrey Jackson was freed after being held captive for eight months by extreme left-wing guerrillas in Uruguay.
21 September – Television music show The Old Grey Whistle Test was aired for the first time on BBC 2.
24 September – Operation FOOT: the United Kingdom expelled 90 Soviet Union intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover for spying, partly prompted by revelations made by KGB defector Oleg Lyalin earlier in the year; a further 15 staff on leave in the USSR were not allowed to return to the UK.

October

1 October – Godfrey Hounsfield's invention, the CAT scan, was used for the first time on a hospital patient, in Wimbledon.
13 October – The British Army began destroying roads between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as a security measure.
21 October
* A gas explosion in the town centre of Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, killed 20 people.
* The television drama Edna, the Inebriate Woman was shown on BBC One.
23 October – Two women were shot dead by soldiers in Belfast as their car failed to stop at a checkpoint.
28 October:
* The House of Commons voted in favour of joining the EEC by a vote of 356-244.
* Immigration Act 1971 restricted immigration, particularly primary immigration into the U.K., and introduced the status of right of abode into U.K. law.
* The United Kingdom became the sixth nation successfully to launch a satellite into orbit using its own launch vehicle, the Prospero experimental communications satellite, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket from Woomera Launch Area 5 in South Australia.
30 October – The Democratic Unionist Party was founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in Northern Ireland.
31 October – A bomb, probably planted by the Angry Brigade, exploded at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.

November

Erin Pizzey established the world's first domestic violence shelter in Chiswick, London.
9 November - An RAF Hercules crashed in Italy, killing 52
10 November – The 10-route Spaghetti Junction motorway interchange was opened north of Birmingham city centre, incorporating the A38(M) and the southern section of the M6 motorway. The interchange would have a total of 12 routes when the final stretch of the M6 was opened the following year.
22 November – Cairngorm Plateau disaster: Five children and one adult on an expedition die of exposure in the Scottish Highlands.

December

2 December – The Queen's yearly allowance was increased from £475,000 to £980,000.
4 December – McGurk's Bar bombing: Fifteen people were killed and 17 injured in a bomb attack that destroyed a bar in Belfast, the highest death toll from a single incident in the city during "The Troubles". The Ulster Volunteer Force is believed to have been behind the bombing.
10 December – Dennis Gabor won the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his invention and development of the holographic method".
16 December
* Banking and Financial Dealings Act passed, updating the definition of bank holidays in the U.K.
* Trial of the Mangrove Nine, a group of black activists, concluded with them being acquitted of the most serious charge and judicial acknowledgement of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.
29 December – The United Kingdom gave up its military bases in Malta.
30 December – The seventh James Bond film – Diamonds Are Forever – was released. Sean Connery, who appeared in the first five films before being succeeded by George Lazenby for On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, returned to the role for one final appearance in the official series of films.

Undated

Inflation stood at a 30-year high of 8.6%.
The government introduced a policy of Competition and Credit Control, lifting quantitative limits on lending by retail banks and allowing them greater freedom to offer savings accounts.
The government imposed a rent freeze.
Oil overtook coal as the most consumed fuel in the United Kingdom for the first time.
David Hockney's acrylic painting Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy was completed.

Publications

Gerda Charles's novel The Destiny Waltz.
Agatha Christie's last-written Miss Marple mystery Nemesis.
E. M. Forster's novel Maurice.
Frederick Forsyth's thriller The Day of the Jackal.
Roger Hargreaves' children's book Mr. Tickle, first of the Mr. Men series.
Spike Milligan's comic autobiography Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall.
V. S. Naipaul's novel In a Free State.
Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy novel The Carpet People.
Paul Scott's novel The Towers of Silence, third of the Raj Quartet.
Keith Thomas' study Religion and the Decline of Magic: studies in popular beliefs in sixteenth and seventeenth century England.

Births

January – March

January – Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, The Guardian
1 January – Andre Marriner, football referee
12 January – Jay Burridge, artist and television presenter
15 January – Lara Cazalet, actress
20 January – Gary Barlow, singer
21 January – Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
23 January
*Scott Gibbs, rugby player and sportscaster
*Lisa Snowdon, English television and radio presenter and fashion model
29 January – Clare Balding, broadcaster, journalist and author
30 January – Darren Boyd, actor
31 January – Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television presenter
2 February – Michelle Gayle, singer and actress
3 February
* Sarah Kane, English playwright
* Jayne Middlemiss, television presenter
11 February – Damian Lewis, English actor
13 February – Sonia, English pop singer
16 February
* Amanda Holden, actress
* Steven Houghton, actor and singer
23 February – Melinda Messenger, television presenter and model
24 February – Nicky Hambleton-Jones, television presenter and fashion expert
27 February – Derren Brown, illusionist
1 March – Thomas Adès, English classical composer, pianist and conductor
3 March – Charlie Brooker, English satirist
6 March
* Claire Baker, Scottish politician
* Geraldine O'Rawe, Northern Irish actress
7 March – Rachel Weisz, actress
13 March – Joey Beauchamp, footballer
15 March – Jason Wilcox, football player and manager
19 March – Dean Smith, football player and manager
23 March
* Kate Dickie, Scottish actress
* Gail Porter, television presenter.
27 March – David Coulthard, Scottish racing driver
28 March – Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi, politician and lawyer
31 March
*Paul Grayson, Yorkshire cricketer
*Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor

April – June

2 April – Jason Lewry, cricketer
3 April – Douglas Carswell, Conservative politician and MP for Harwich
11 April – John Leech, Liberal Democrat politician, shadow transport spokesperson, and MP for Manchester Withington
15 April – Kate Harbour, voice actress
16 April – Belinda Stewart-Wilson, actress
17 April – Claire Sweeney, actress
18 April
* Samantha Cameron, businesswoman
* David Tennant, Scottish actor
24 April – Adrian Simpson, television presenter
9 May
*Jason Lee, footballer and manager
*Paul McGuigan, musician and a founding member of Oasis
10 May – Simon Jack, journalist and broadcaster
17 May – Vernie Bennett, singer
21 May – Kevin Fong, doctor and broadcaster
23 May – George Osborne, Conservative politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and MP for Tatton
24 May – Emily Hamilton, actress
27 May
*Paul Bettany, actor
*Lee Sharpe, footballer
30 May – Shaun Bailey, Baron Bailey of Paddington, politician
3 June – Julian Sturdy, politician
5 June – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
11 June
* Liz Kendall, English politician
* Pat McGrath, make-up artist
18 June – Nigel Owens, rugby union referee
20 June – Brandon Lewis, English lawyer and politician
22 June – Gary Connolly, English rugby player
25 June
* Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer
* Scott Maslen, English actor
28 June – Sean Dyche, English football player and manager

July – September

1 July – Rosie Duffield, English politician
8 July – Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby player
14 July – Howard Webb, English football referee
13 July – MF Doom, British-American rapper
21 July – Charlotte Gainsbourg, British-French actress and singer
2 August
* Alice Evans, actress
* Michael Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
9 August – Kate Gerbeau, television presenter and newsreader
18 August - Aphex Twin, Irish-born electronic music artist
20 August – David Walliams, comedian, actor and television personality
21 August – Liam Howlett, musician
26 August – Gaynor Faye, actress
29 August – Nicola Mendelsohn, business executive
31 August – Kirstie Allsopp, television presenter
1 September – Daniel Hannan, British Conservative politician, MEP for South East England
8 September – Martin Freeman, actor
11 September
* Richard Ashcroft, English musician and singer
* Clive Lewis, English politician
13 September
* Louise Lombard, actress.
* Stella McCartney, fashion designer
17 September – Parmjit Dhanda, British Labour politician, MP for Gloucester
22 September – Chesney Hawkes, English singer-songwriter
24 September – Es Devlin, set designer
25 September – Jessie Wallace, actress
28 September – Liza Walker, actress
29 September – Mackenzie Crook, English actor

October – December

6 October – Emily Mortimer, British actress
8 October – David Gauke, Lord Chancellor
13 October – Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian
14 October – Andy Cole, English footballer
16 October – Craig Phillips, British reality show star, winner of Big Brother UK in 2000
21 October – Jade Jagger, jewellery designer
29 October – Lee Mason, football referee
30 October – John Alford, British actor and singer
3 November – Alison Williamson, archer
8 November – Michael Jeffrey, English footballer
17 November – Michael Adams, chess player
18 November – Thérèse Coffey, politician
22 November
* Cath Bishop, British rower and Olympic medallist
* Kyran Bracken, Irish-born rugby union footballer
1 December – Emily Mortimer, actress
5 December – Ashia Hansen, triple jumper
7 December – DeObia Oparei, actor
14 December – Lucie Stewart, British actress
10 December – Daniel Betts, actor
23 December – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite and television presenter
25 December – Dido, English pop singer
27 December – Duncan Ferguson, football player and manager

Deaths

January – March

12 January – John Tovey, British admiral of the fleet
24 January – St. John Greer Ervine, Northern Irish dramatist and author
28 January – Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst
6 March – Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor
7 March – Stevie Smith, English poet
16 March – Bebe Daniels, American-born actress

April – June

20 April – Cecil Parker, English film actor
1 May – Violet Jessop, survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic
15 May – Sir Tyrone Guthrie, English theatre director, producer and writer
20 May – Waldo Williams, Welsh language poet
6 June – Edward Andrade, English poet and physicist
10 June – Michael Rennie, English actor
25 June – John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

July – September

1 July
* William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
* Learie Constantine, cricketer
4 July – Sir Maurice Bowra, writer, critic and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University
13 August – Sir Barry Domvile, admiral and Nazi sympathiser
19 July – John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, businessman
27 July – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer
30 August – Peter Fleming, travel writer and brother of Ian Fleming

October – December

11 November – A. P. Herbert, politician and writer
17 November – Gladys Cooper, actress
12 December
* Torry Gillick, Rangers F.C. winger
* Alan Morton, Rangers F.C. outside left
21 December – Charles C. Banks, pilot

Undated

Reg Bunn, comic book artist
Edith Garrud, pioneer martial artist and suffragist