2014 in the United Kingdom


Events from the year 2014 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

January

  • 3 January – Strong winds and high tides bring flooding to large parts of western England, Wales and Scotland.
  • 7 January – Four people are killed when a United States Air Force Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, crashes at a nature reserve in Cley next the Sea, north Norfolk.
  • 8 January – An inquest jury decides that Mark Duggan, whose death sparked the 2011 England riots was lawfully killed by police.
  • 10 January – At the Old Bailey, police officer Keith Wallis pleads guilty to misconduct in a public office over an email he sent to his local MP concerning the Plebgate affair.
  • 12 January – Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is among 19 senior Catholic clergy who will be created Cardinals by Pope Francis on 22 February, it is announced.
  • 13 January – The UK Treasury announces that if Scots vote to leave the UK in September's referendum, it will honour all UK government debt issued up to the date of Scottish independence.
  • 15 January – Birmingham City Council says that it could be forced to sell off some of its assets to pay £1bn of legal claims over equality of pay.
  • 16 January
  • *Sir Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police will face prosecution over safety breaches after an unarmed man was shot dead in Cheshire in March 2012, the CPS announces.
  • *Chancellor George Osborne tells BBC News he wants to see a rise in the minimum wage above the rate of inflation.
  • 18 January
  • *The Labour Party confirms that Del Singh, a candidate for the forthcoming European elections, was among two Britons killed during a suicide bombing at a restaurant in the Afghan capital, Kabul the previous day.
  • *16-year-old Lewis Clarke of Bristol sets a new world record after becoming the youngest person to trek to the South Pole.
  • 19 January – The UK Independence Party suspends an Oxfordshire councillor who blamed the floods that hit the country earlier in the month on the government's decision to legalise same-sex marriage "because it had angered God".
  • 22 January – UK unemployment falls to 7.1%, surpassing economic forecasts and placing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. The bank, which said it would consider an increase once unemployment reached 7% says it has no immediate plans to introduce a raise.
  • 24 January – Sedgemoor District Council in Somerset declares a "major incident" in flooded areas as forecasters warn of more rain.
  • 25 January – Trees are uprooted and structural damage is caused to buildings by lightning as a heavy rainstorm hits the Midlands region.
  • 27 January – Research published by the Centre for Cities think tank suggests a widening economic gap between London and the rest of the UK, with ten times more jobs being created in the capital than elsewhere.
  • 28 January – Figures released by the Office for National Statistics indicate the UK economy grew by 1.9% in 2013, its highest since 2007, but growth for the final quarter of the year was 0.7%.
  • 29 January – During a visit to Scotland, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England says that in the event of Scottish independence, the country would need to give up some powers in return for a currency union with the United Kingdom.
  • 30 January – Figures released by the Met Office indicate Southern England and parts of the Midlands have experienced their highest January rainfall since records began in 1910. The announcement comes as military personnel prepare to help residents in flooded areas of Somerset.
  • 31 January – The European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013-14 is rejected by the House of Lords after peers vote not to allow more time for a debate, effectively killing off the proposed legislation.

February

March

  • 5 March – Birmingham City Council puts the NEC Group up for sale because the authority is facing legal claims over equal pay totalling more than £1bn.
  • 6 March
  • *Prince Harry launches the Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style sporting championship for wounded soldiers.
  • *Home Secretary Theresa May announces a public inquiry into undercover policing after revelations that officers spied on members of Stephen Lawrence's family.
  • 7–16 March – Great Britain finish 10th in the medal table of the 2014 Winter Paralympics, with six medals, the most successful Games since Innsbruck in 1984. Four of Britain's medals were won by visually impaired skier Jade Etherington, making her the greatest British Winter Paralympian of all time.
  • 11 March – MPs vote 297–239 to allow the controversial Clause 119 element of the Care Bill that will allow ministers to close hospitals in an NHS trust if a neighbouring trust is in financial difficulty, even if the hospital concerned is performing well.
  • 18 March – [Scottish Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party|Scottish Labour]'s Devolution Commission publishes its long-awaited report setting out proposals for enhanced devolution that will be implemented if Scotland votes no in the referendum and Labour are elected in 2015.
  • 19 March – 2014 budget: Chancellor George Osborne announces that a new £1 coin will be introduced from 2017. Current £1 coins are vulnerable to counterfeiting, but the new 12-sided two-metal coin, based on the Threepenny bit will be more difficult to copy.
  • 28 March – BBC research suggests that less than 6% of social housing tenants affected by the bedroom taxan aspect of the 2012 Welfare Reform Act that penalises tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit with spare bedroomshave moved house as a result of the controversial measure.
  • 29 March – The first same-sex weddings take place in England and Wales following a change in the law in 2013 allowing same-sex marriage.
  • 31 March – A jury is selected to hear a fresh inquest into the 96 deaths caused by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

April

May

June

  • 5 June
  • * US President Barack Obama says the US's interest in the Scottish independence referendum issue is to ensure it retains a "strong, robust, united and effective partner".
  • * 2014 Newark by-election: Conservative Robert Jenrick is elected as the new MP, becoming the first Tory candidate to win a by-election for 25 years. However, the party's majority is reduced by 10,000 following a significant UKIP vote.
  • 7 June – Education Secretary Michael Gove apologises to David Cameron and a Home Office official over a row with Home Secretary Theresa May about how to tackle Islamic extremism following recent revelations about a Muslim plot to take over schools in Birmingham. In addition, May's special adviser, Fiona Cunningham resigns over the row.
  • 9 June – The teaching of creationism is banned from free schools and academies.
  • 14–24 June – The England national football team competes at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The team is eliminated after the first round, having finished bottom of their group after failing to win any of their 3 matches and gaining just 1 point.
  • 17 June – Production of paper at the Whatman plc mill at Maidstone, established in 1740, ceases.
  • 21 June – Jane Hedges is installed as the first female Dean of Norwich.
  • 24 June – Former News of the World editor and Downing Street Director of Communications Andy Coulson is found guilty of conspiring to hack phones.
  • 25 June – The jury in the phone hacking trial is dismissed after failing to reach a verdict on outstanding charges against Andy Coulson. The trial's judge, Mr Justice Saunders, rebukes Prime Minister David Cameron for commenting on Coulson's conviction the previous day while the trial was still ongoing.
  • 30 June
  • *Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman are to face a retrial on charges they bought royal telephone directories from police officers.
  • *Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, entertainer Rolf Harris is found guilty on 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986.

July

August

September

October

November

  • 2 November – Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together campaign and former Chancellor of the Exchequer and announces he will step down as an MP at the next general election.
  • 3 November
  • *The youth who fatally stabbed Ann Maguire at a Leeds school in April is named as 16-year-old Will Cornick. He is sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure with a minimum tariff of 20 years.
  • *Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister Norman Baker resigns from his post, claiming that working in the department is like "walking through mud".
  • 6 November – A woman is murdered in an act of cannibalism at a hostel in Argoed, Wales. The suspect Matthew Williams dies after Gwent Police fire a Taser at him.
  • 7 November – Chancellor George Osborne is criticised as he reveals that the UK will pay its EU budget surcharge in two interest-free sums next year totalling £850m, instead of a larger lump sum of £1.7bn by 1 December, after a rebate from Brussels due in 2016 appears to have been brought forward. Labour describes the announcement as "smoke and mirrors", whilst Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls says it is a "diplomatic disaster for the government".
  • 11 November – The last ceramic poppy is laid at the Tower of London memorial art installation and joins the 888,245 flowers commemorating the armistice and centenary of World War I.
  • 14 November
  • *Nicola Sturgeon succeeds Alex Salmond as leader of the Scottish National Party at their annual conference in Perth, while Stewart Hosie is elected to the deputy leadership role vacated by Sturgeon.
  • *Angus Sinclair, the serial killer and rapist who murdered Helen Scott and Christine Eadie in Edinburgh's Old Town in 1977 is jailed for 37 years, the longest ever sentence handed out by a Scottish court.
  • *Former BBC DJ Chris Denning pleads guilty to further sexual abuse of boys aged 9 to 16 during the 1970s and 1980s.
  • 16 November
  • *Police name five teenagers killed in a motoring accident on the A630 near Doncaster, which occurred the previous day.
  • *A case of bird flu is confirmed at a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire. The deadly H5N1 strain is ruled out and officials say that the risk to public health is low.
  • 17 November
  • *The Church of England adopts legislation paving the way for the appointment of women as bishops.
  • *Band Aid 30 release their cover of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?", thirty years after the original, this time to raise money towards the Ebola crisis in Western Africa.
  • 19 November
  • *A British-led Moon mission – – is announced.
  • *The Scottish Parliament elects Nicola Sturgeon as the first female First Minister of Scotland.
  • 20 November
  • *2014 Rochester and Strood by-election: Voters go to the polls after MP Mark Reckless seeks re-election under the UKIP label, having defected from the Conservative Party. The results are announced the following day: Reckless is re-elected, but with a smaller than expected majority of less than 3,000.
  • *Sheffield United withdraws its offer to allow footballer and convicted rapist Ched Evans to use its training facilities following a public backlash against the club.
  • 21 November – The launch is announced of The National, Scotland's first daily newspaper to take a pro-independence stance.
  • 23 November – Britain's Lewis Hamilton wins the 2014 Formula One world title after finishing first in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
  • 24 November – The National launches on a five-day trial basis.
  • 25 November – A report into the murder of Lee Rigby by the Intelligence and Security Committee suggests that MI5 could have prevented the killing had they been allowed access to an online forum in which one of the perpetrators discussed murdering a soldier five months before the May 2013 incident.
  • 27 November
  • *The Smith Commission, established by David Cameron to look at enhanced devolution for Scotland following the referendum, publishes its report, recommending the Scottish Parliament should be given the power to set income tax rates and bands.
  • *A judge says he is satisfied MP and former chief whip Andrew Mitchell called police officers "plebs" during a 2012 row in Downing Street as he rejects a High Court libel action brought by the politician against The Sun newspaper.
  • 28 November – Black Friday promotions spark chaos and violence in stores across the country. Police are called to at least ten supermarkets amid large crowd surges as people hunt for the best offers.

December

  • 1 December
  • *Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces he is to stand down as an MP at the next general election after 32 years.
  • *Suffolk doctor Myles Bradbury pleads guilty to abusing eighteen young cancer patients in his care at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge between 2009 and 2013. He is sentenced to 22 years.
  • 3 December – As part of the Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne replaces stamp duty for home buyers with a graduated scheme similar to income tax.
  • 5 December – Scotland reduces its drink-drive limit from 80 mg to 50 mg, bringing the country's legal limit into line with much of mainland Europe.
  • 6 December – Reports surface that former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond will stand for Parliament in the Gordon constituency at the 2015 general election. Salmond confirms his intention to contest the constituency the following day.
  • 7 December – Greetings card retailer Clintons withdraws a 'tongue-in-cheek' Christmas card detailing ten reasons why Santa Claus "must live on a council estate" after it was deemed to be offensive by the public.
  • 10 December – A "weather bomb" hits the north of the UK, causing winds of up to 144 mph, cutting power from tens of thousands of homes, and creating travel disruptions across land and sea.
  • 12 December – Disruption is caused at airports across the country due to a computer system failure at the UK's air traffic control centre, causing hundreds of delays and over eighty cancellations at Heathrow. Delays and cancellations continue the following day.
  • 13 December – MP Jim Murphy is elected as the new Scottish Labour leader, beating MSPs Neil Findlay and Sarah Boyack with 55.7% of the vote, declaring it his "driving purpose" to end poverty and inequality. Meanwhile, Kezia Dugdale is elected as the party's new deputy leader.
  • 16 December – Leader of the House of Commons William Hague sets out Conservative plans for English votes for English laws to prevent MPs representing constituencies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from voting on legalisation that does not effect their parts of the UK.
  • 17 December – Libby Lane becomes the new Bishop of Stockport and the first woman to become a bishop of the Church of England since the change to canon law just a month ago.
  • 19 December
  • *An off-duty police officer dies in hospital after he was attacked during a night out in Liverpool.
  • *A High Court judge orders the winding up of Hereford United football club following a petition from the Inland Revenue over unpaid tax debts.
  • 22 December – Six people are killed after a refuse lorry crashes into a group of people in Glasgow's George Square.
  • 25 December – Parcel delivery firm City Link announces that it has gone into administration after substantial losses. The general secretary of the RMT union calls the timing of the announcement a "disgrace".
  • 29 December – The Scottish Government confirms a case of Ebola being treated in a Glasgow hospital. The victim is a healthcare worker who had travelled back from Sierra Leone the previous day.
  • 31 December
  • *Healthcare worker Pauline Cafferkey receives an unnamed experimental anti-viral drug and blood plasma from Ebola survivors as part of her treatment.
  • *City Link's administrators announce the loss of 2,356 jobs after a deal to buy the firm fell through.

Undated

  • 2014 was the UK's warmest year since records began with an average temperature of 9.9C, 0.2C higher than the previous record set in 2006, according to a Met Office report of 5 January 2015. This means that eight of the UK's top ten warmest years have occurred since 2002.
  • New car sales reach a 10-year high of nearly 2.5 million. The Ford Fiesta was Britain's best selling car for the sixth successive year, while the likes of Audi and Fiat also enjoy impressive sales figures.

Publications

Births

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December