- 2003 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year
2003 in theUnited Kingdom .Incumbents
* Monarch -
HM Queen Elizabeth II
* Prime Minister -Tony Blair , Labour PartyEvents
*
25 January -Central Line underground train crashes into the tunnel wall atChancery Lane tube station in London, injuring 34 people.
*29 January -Sally Clark , a 38-year-old former solicitor fromCheshire , is released from prison after theCourt of Appeal clears her of murdering her two sons, who are believed to have died of Cot Death. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_3412000/3412647.stm|title="2003: Solicitor cleared of killing sons", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*30 January -Richard Colvin Reid , the so-called "shoe bomber", sentenced to life imprisonment by aUnited States court. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/30/newsid_4081000/4081741.stm|title="2003: 'Shoe bomber' jailed for life", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*1 February - InNorthern Ireland , theProtestant Ulster Defence Association Belfast leaderJohn Gregg is killed by a loyalist faction.
*15 February - InLondon , more than 2 million people demonstrate against theIraq War , the largest demonstration in British history.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=653–656]
*17 February - TheLondon congestion charge , a fee that is levied on motorists travelling within designated parts ofLondon , came into operation.
*27 February
** 122 Labour MPs vote against the government in a debate over theIraq War .
**Rowan Williams enthroned asArchbishop of Canterbury .
*12 March -Iraq disarmament crisis : British prime ministerTony Blair proposes an amendment to the possible 18th U.N. resolution, which would call for Iraq to meet certain benchmarks to prove that it was disarming. The amendment is immediately rejected by France, who promises toveto any new resolution.
*20 March - 2003 Iraq war: Land troops fromUnited Kingdom join troops from theUnited States ,Australia andPoland in the invasion ofIraq .
*22 March -Tomahawk cruise missiles fired fromRoyal Navy submarines take part in a massive air and missile strike on military targets in Baghdad.
*6 April - British forces capture the city ofBasra during the Iraq war.
*29 April - Tony Blair holds a one day summit withRussia n PresidentVladimir Putin . Putin mocks Britain's and America's failure to locate weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
*3 May
**Scottish parliamentary election, 2003 : the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition led byJack McConnell win a majority of the seats and remain in power. TheScottish Green Party and theScottish Socialist Party significantly increase their representation.
**Welsh Assembly election, 2003 : the Labour Party remain in power.
** The BBC announces that the hugely popular characterDen Watts will return to its soap operaEastEnders later this year, 14 years after he was supposedly killed off.
*15 May - The government suspends all flights to and fromKenya after warnings of an imminental-Qaeda attack.
*28 May - TheUEFA Champions League Final atOld Trafford (home to Manchester United) withJuventus beatingAC Milan in a penalty shootout following a goalless draw.
*29 May -Andrew Gilligan broadcasts a report on theBBC Radio 4 Today programme stating that the government claimed in its dossier that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes knowing the claim to be dubious. A political storm ensues. Gilligan's source is David Kelly, a weapons expert.
*10 June -Soham Murders suspectIan Huntley returns toWoodhill Prison after being treated for the effects of an overdose yesterday.
*15 June - TheNews of the World publishes a newspaper article in which Ian Huntley is photographed in his cell at Woodhill Prison. An undercover reporter had got a job in the prison and was being employed as Huntley's guard.
*24 June
** PresidentVladimir Putin becomes the first Russian head of state to make a state visit to the Britain since Tsar Alexander II in 1874.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
** Six members of theRoyal Military Police killed and eight other soldiers injured in Iraq.
*15 July - David Kelly appears before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee to answer questions over the information he had given to Andrew Gilligan.
*18 July - David Kelly is found dead near his home inOxfordshire — police suspect that he committed suicide. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/18/newsid_3430000/3430065.stm|title="2003: Missing Iraq expert - body found", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*20 July - The BBC confirms that Dr David Kelly, found dead from suspected suicide two days ago, was the main source for a controversial report that sparked a deep rift with thegovernment . [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3798000/3798761.stm|title="BBC admits Kelly was 'main source'", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-01-06]
*1 August - TheHutton Inquiry begins, with judgeLord Hutton opening an inquiry into the recent deaths of weapons expert Dr David Kelly. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/1/newsid_3861000/3861275.stm|title="Hutton inquiry begins", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-01-06]
*3 August - Police use thetaser for the first time.
*10 August -Brogdale enters theUK Weather Records for the highest ever recorded temperature of 38.5°C. The summer of2003 has so far been Britain's hottest summer for 13 years. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10/newsid_3910000/3910801.stm|title="2003: Britain swelters in record heat", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*4 September - TheBullring Shopping Centre inBirmingham , is officially opened by Sir Albert Bore.
*18 September - Brent East by-election:Sarah Teather of theLiberal Democrats becomes MP forBrent East after 29 years of Labour control.
*29 September - The comeback ofDen Watts (played byLeslie Grantham ) inEastEnders is screened, 14 years after the character was supposedly killed off, and just over four months after the BBC confirmed that Grantham would be returning to the series.
*24 October - Supersonic aircraftConcorde makes its final commercial flights after 27 years. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/24/newsid_3701000/3701490.stm|title="2003: End of an era for Concorde", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*29 October -Iain Duncan-Smith resigns after just over two years as leader of the Conservative Party. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/29/newsid_3722000/3722714.stm|title="2003: Tory Party leader resigns", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*3 November -Channel 4 's soap opera "Brookside " finishes after 21 years on air.
*18 November - U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush makes a state visit toLondon in the midst of massive protests. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_4141000/4141126.stm|title="2003: High security as Bush visits UK", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*20 November - Several bombs explode inIstanbul ,Turkey at several British targets. The Turkish head office of HSBC and the British consulate are destroyed, and the British Consulate-General,Roger Short is killed. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_3746000/3746382.stm|title="2003: British targets bombed in Istanbul", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*22 November - England are rugby world champions after defeating Australia 20-17 after extra time. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_3747000/3747398.stm|title="2003: England win Rugby World Cup", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*24 November - The High Court inGlasgow imposes a minimum sentence of 27 years for Al Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of bombingPan Am Flight 103 overLockerbie ,Scotland . He is currently four years into a life sentence, but the trial judge had originally recommended a minimum of just 20 years, which could have seen him out of prison as early as2019 . But the new sentence means that Al Megrahi is set to remain behind bars until at least2026 .
*26 November The final Concorde to fly touches down for the last time in Filton, Bristol where it was welcomed by theDuke of York
*10 December
**Clive Granger wins theNobel Prize in Economics jointly withRobert F. Engle "for methods of analyzing economic time series with common trends (cointegration)". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2003/index.html |title=The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2003|accessdate=2008-01-27]
**Anthony J. Leggett wins theNobel Prize in Physics jointly withAlexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov andVitaly Ginzburg "for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2003/|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 2003|accessdate=2008-01-27]
**Peter Mansfield wins theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly withPaul Lauterbur "for their discoveries concerningmagnetic resonance imaging ". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2003/|title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2003|accessdate=2008-01-27]
** TheCourt of Appeal overturns two murder convictions against 40-year-oldWiltshire womanAngela Cannings , who was wrongly convicted of murdering her two baby sons inApril last year. Mrs Cannings, who has a surviving daughter, always maintained that her sons were both Cot Death victims. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/10/newsid_3762000/3762944.stm|title="2003: Mother cleared of murdering babies", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*12 December -Mick Jagger ofThe Rolling Stones receives a knighthood fromCharles, Prince of Wales .
*16 December - The Government announces plans to build a new runway at Stansted Airport inEssex and a short-haul runway atHeathrow Airport sparking anger from environmental groups.
*17 December -Ian Huntley is found guilty of theSoham Murders and sentenced to life imprisonment at theOld Bailey . A High Court judge will later decide on the minimum number of the years that he will have to serve before being considered for parole. His ex-girlfriendMaxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice and receives a jail term of three-and-a-half years, but she will be freed on licence (under a new identity to protect her from reprisal attacks) inMay 2004 as she has already served 16 months on remand. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/newsid_3985000/3985667.stm|title="2003: Ian Huntley guilty of Soham murders", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
*26 December - A policeman dies and two others are injured after being shot by a man they were questioning about a suspiciousBMW car inLeeds ,West Yorkshire .
*31 December -David Bieber , a 37-year-old former American marine, is arrested on suspicion of the Boxing Day police shootings in Leeds.Publications
*
Iain Banks ' book "Raw Spirit ".
*Mark Haddon 's novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time ".
*Terry Pratchett 'sDiscworld novels "The Wee Free Men " and "Monstrous Regiment".
*J. K. Rowling 's novel "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ".Births
*
8 November -Lady Louise Windsor , daughter of Earl and Countess of WessexDeaths
*
5 January -Roy Jenkins , politician (born 1920)
*8 January -Ron Goodwin , composer (born 1925)
*12 January -Maurice Gibb , musician and singer-songwriter (born 1949)
*26 January -Hugh Trevor-Roper , historian (born 1914)
*26 January -George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie , politician (born 1931)
*14 February -Dolly the Sheep , cloned sheep (born 1996)
*27 February -John Lanchbery , composer (born 1923)
*8 March -Adam Faith , actor and singer (born 1940)
*11 April -Cecil Howard Green , geophysicist and businessman (born 1900)
*14 May -Wendy Hiller , actress (born 1912)
*10 June -Bernard Williams , philosopher (born 1929)
*1 July -George Roper , comedian (born 1934)
*10 July -Winston Graham , writer (born 1908)
*10 July -Hartley Shawcross , chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials (born 1902)
*25 July -John Schlesinger , film director (born 1926)
*27 July -Bob Hope , comedian (born 1902)
*9 August -Ray Harford , footballer and football manager (born1945 )
*9 August - Jimmy Davis, footballer (born1982 )
*1 September -Terry Frost , artist (born 1915)
*26 September - Robert Palmer, singer (born 1949)
*5 October -Denis Quilley , actor (born 1927)
*4 November -Richard Wollheim , philosopher (born 1923)
*2 December - Alan Davidson (born 1924)
*27 December -Alan Bates , actor (born 1934)
*29 December -Dinsdale Landen , actor (cancer) (born 1932)
*29 December -Bob Monkhouse , comedian and game show host (born 1928)References
ee also
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.