2007 in England
Encyclopedia
 2007 in England |
| Years |
| 2005 2005 in England Events from 2005 in England-Incumbents:*Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II *Prime Minister - Tony Blair-January:* 5 January - Funeral of Angus Ogilvy, husband of Princess Alexandra, takes place at St... | 2006 2006 in England Events from 2006 in England-Incumbents:* Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II * Prime Minister - Tony Blair-January:* 20 January - River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.... | 2007 | 2008 2008 in England Events from 2008 in England-Designation:2008 National Year of Reading is a year-long celebration of reading, in all its forms.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II * Prime Minister - Gordon Brown... | 2009 2009 in England Events from 2009 in England-Incumbents:*Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II *Prime Minister - Gordon Brown -January:... |
| Centuries |
| 18th century | 19th century | 20th century | 21st century |
| See also |
| 2006-07 in English football 2006-07 in English football The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five... |
| 2007-08 in English football 2007-08 in English football The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool... |
Events from 2007 in England
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy of the United KingdomThe monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
– Elizabeth II (since 6 February 1952) - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
– Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
(until 27 June); Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
(after 27 June)
January
- 1 January - The second of two days of strike actionStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
hits Central TrainsCentral TrainsCentral Trains was one of the original 25 train operating companies to emerge from the break-up of British Rail between 1994 and 1997. The company operated local, urban and secondary express services across central England and Mid Wales.-Overview:...
, affecting many parts of EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, especially the EastEast MidlandsThe East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
and West MidlandsWest Midlands (region)The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
. - 3 January - National Express coach accident: A National Express coach from London Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow AirportLondon Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
to AberdeenAberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
crashes on a slip road between the M4M4 motorwayThe M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
and the M25M25 motorwayThe M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
, killing two people and injuring thirty-six others. - 4 January - In response to yesterday's crash, National ExpressNational ExpressNational Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
withdraw all 12 of their Neoplan SkylinerNeoplan SkylinerThe NEOPLAN Skyliner is a double-deck multi-axle luxury touring coach built by the German coach manufacturer and MAN SE subsidiary NEOPLAN Bus GmbH.-History:...
double-deckerDouble-decker busA double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
coaches as a precaution. - 5 January
- The England cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team loses the fifth AshesThe AshesThe Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
test in SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia by 10 wickets, resulting in a 5-0 series whitewash, the first time this has occurred since the 1920-1921 Ashes TourEnglish cricket team in Australia in 1920-21An England team toured Australia between November 1920 and March 1921. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name...
. - Umran JavedUmran JavedUmran Javed is a former spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun, a designated and banned terrorist organization. A British court found Javed guilty of soliciting to murder and inciting racial hatred for repeatedly chanting "bomb, bomb, USA," "bomb, bomb, Denmark," "we want Danish blood!," "UK you will pay!,"...
, a British MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, is found guilty at the Old BaileyOld BaileyThe Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
, London, of inciting racial hatred at a London rally in February 2006 protesting against the publication of a cartoon in a DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
newspaper depicting MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
(see Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyThe Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
).
- The England cricket
- 7 January - Bristol International AirportBristol International AirportBristol Airport , located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. At first it was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport and from March 1997 to March 2010 it was known as Bristol International Airport...
closes its runway due to concerns by various airlines (including easyJetEasyJetEasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
and BA ConnectBA ConnectBA Connect was a fully owned subsidiary airline of British Airways. Headquartered in Didsbury, Manchester, England, it operated a network of domestic and European services from a number of airports in the United Kingdom on behalf of British Airways...
) over the safety of landing in wet weather. This follows two days of nine airlines refusing to use the runway. - 10 January - Two militaryMilitaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
helicopters collide in mid-air near Market DraytonMarket DraytonMarket Drayton is a small market town in north Shropshire, England. It is on the River Tern, between Shrewsbury and Stoke-on-Trent, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" and earlier simply as "Drayton" ....
, ShropshireShropshireShropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, killing one person and injuring three others. - 10 January–28 January - John Reid faces mounting problems continuing from those of his predecessors including further prisoner escapes especially from open prisonsOpen prisonAn open prison is an informal description applied to any penal establishment in which the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and so do not need to be locked up in prison cells...
and also absconding of those under Control OrdersControl orderA control order is an order made by the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom to restrict an individual's liberty for the purpose of "protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism". Its definition and power were provided by Parliament in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005...
and missing sex offenders. - 16 January - At the 64th Golden Globe Awards64th Golden Globe AwardsThe 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards were aired on January 15, 2007. Some key dates announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are:The ceremony was broadcast live on NBC...
, Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
wins an award for her portrayal of Elizabeth II in The QueenThe Queen (film)The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
and Sacha Baron CohenSacha Baron CohenSacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
for his role in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanBorat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanBorat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, often referred to simply as Borat, is a 2006 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and distributed by 20th Century Fox...
. Other British winners were Hugh LaurieHugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
in HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
and Jeremy IronsJeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
in Elizabeth IElizabeth I (TV series)Elizabeth I is a 2005 British television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper. The teleplay by Nigel Williams concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England....
. - 20 January - The MSC Napoli is deliberately grounded to prevent it sinking, leading to concern about environmental damage to BranscombeBranscombeThe Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge is a collection of buildings in Branscombe, Seaton, Devon, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1965.The property consists of three buildings: a bakery, a watermill and a forge....
beachBeachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
in DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
.
February
- 3 February - The presence of the H5N1 virus in the avian flu outbreak at the HoltonHolton, SuffolkHolton, in Suffolk, England, is a village near to the town of Halesworth with a population of around 1,100. Holton is split into two parts, Upper Holton and Holton.-History:Although it often referred to as Holton St...
turkey plant in SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
is confirmed. - 11 February - The England Cricket team defeat Australia to win their first overseas One-Day International trophy since 1997.
- 23 February - Grayrigg rail crash: A VirginVirgin TrainsVirgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
PendolinoPendolinoPendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania and Poland...
trainTrainA train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
derails in CumbriaCumbriaCumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, killing one person and injuring dozens more.
March
- 2 March - The Attorney General for England and WalesAttorney General for England and WalesHer Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Lord Goldsmith, obtains an injunction from the High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
preventing the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
from broadcasting an item about investigations into the alleged cash for honours political scandal. - 3 March - Contaminated petrol that was causing cars to fail is traced to a fuel depot in EssexEssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. - 5 March
- Al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
has threatened to kidnap or kill Prince HarryPrince Harry of WalesPrince Henry of Wales , commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and fourth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
during his upcoming tour of duty in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
- Al-Qaeda
- 15 March - Sally ClarkSally ClarkSally Clark was a British solicitor who became the victim of an infamous miscarriage of justice when she was wrongly convicted of the murder of two of her sons in 1999...
, the woman who spent four years in prison before being released in 2003 when the High CourtHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
cleared her of killing her two baby sons (victims of cot death), dies at the age of 42.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6460595.stm - 16 March - CoronerCoronerA coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
Andrew WalkerAndrew Walker (barrister)Andrew Walker is an English barrister and coroner for Northern District of Greater London,. In June 2006 he was appointed on temporary contract as assistant deputy coroner in Oxfordshire, one of three temporary appointees to assist in reducing a backlog of inquests into the deaths of British...
finds that the death of soldierSoldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
Matty Hull in the 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals "friendly fireFriendly fireFriendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
" incident was "unlawful and criminal". The U.S. Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
rejects this ruling. - 17 March - The rebuilt Wembley StadiumWembley StadiumThe original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
opens to the public for the first time, more than six years after its predecessor was closed. - 30 March - Network RailNetwork RailNetwork Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
(the replacement for RailtrackRailtrackRailtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
) is fined £4 million for health and safety breaches leading to the Ladbroke Grove rail crashLadbroke Grove rail crashThe Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove, London, England. Thirty-one people were killed and more than 520 injured...
, in which 31 people died.
April
- 4 April - Violence erupts during a UEFA Champions League game between Manchester United and AS Roma.
- 24 April - Anti-terrorism police arrest five people in London and one in LutonLutonLuton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
for alleged breaches of the Terrorism ActTerrorism Act-United Kingdom:* Prevention of Terrorism Acts passed between 1974 and 1989 to deal with terrorism in Northern Ireland* The Terrorism Act 2000* The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001* The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005* The Terrorism Act 2006...
. - 28 April - An earthquake2007 Kent earthquakeThe 2007 Kent earthquake was an earthquake that registered 4.3 on the Richter scale and struck south east Kent, England on 28 April 2007 at 07:18:12 UTC , at a shallow depth of 5.3 km....
measuring 4.3 on the richter scale strikes in Kent, injuring one and causing damage to buildings.
May
- May - The all-new Ford MondeoFord MondeoThe Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...
goes on sale in Britain with a range of saloons, hatchbacks and estates. - 3 May
- Parts of the country have elections for local councils.
- Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old LeicestershireLeicestershireLeicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
girl, is reported missing in Algarve, Portugal.http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23422086-murat-lover-was-at-jehovahs-meeting-as-maddie-vanished.do
- 6 May - Manchester United win their ninth Premier League title.
- 18 May - Prince William officially opens the new Wembley Stadium.
- 19 May - Chelsea FC win the FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
with Didier DrogbaDidier DrogbaDidier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
's goal giving them a 1-0 win over Manchester United FC in the first club game to be played at the rebuilt Wembley StadiumWembley StadiumThe original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. - 21 May - A fire damages the Cutty SarkCutty SarkThe Cutty Sark is a clipper ship. Built in 1869, she served as a merchant vessel , and then as a training ship until being put on public display in 1954...
in GreenwichGreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. - 24 May - Jenny BaileyJenny BaileyJenny Bailey is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was the civic leader of Cambridge City Council in Cambridge, England. Bailey served her mayoral term from 2007-2008. Bailey became a member of the city council in 2002, when she was elected to represent the suburb of East Chesterton within...
becomes the first transsexual mayor in the United Kingdom. - 29 May - The LongbridgeLongbridge plantThe Longbridge plant is an industrial complex situated in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is currently owned by SAIC Group and is a manufacturing and research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary....
car factory in BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
re-opens, two years after the bankruptcy of MG Rover. The re-opened factory is a scaled down operation which will initially just produce the MG TFMG TFThe TF model name has been used on two automobiles produced by MG Cars:* MG TF Midget * MG TF...
sports car, though there are plans by ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
owners Nanjing Automobile to build other cars there in the future. - 30 May - A fire at a MagnoxMagnoxMagnox is a now obsolete type of nuclear power reactor which was designed and is still in use in the United Kingdom, and was exported to other countries, both as a power plant, and, when operated accordingly, as a producer of plutonium for nuclear weapons...
nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
station in OldburyOldbury-on-SevernOldbury-on-Severn is a small village near the mouth of the River Severn in South Gloucestershire. It is home to the nearby Oldbury nuclear power station, a Magnox power station which opened in 1967 and is due to cease operation in 2011....
, South GloucestershireSouth GloucestershireSouth Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, forces its indefinite closure. British Nuclear GroupBritish Nuclear GroupSellafield Ltd is a nuclear decommissioning Site Licence Company controlled by Nuclear Management Partners Ltd, its designated Parent Body Organisation...
announces that the fire has not damaged the reactorNuclear reactorA nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
and was in a "non-nuclear" area.
June
- 13 June - The Queen awards Sir Tim Berners-LeeTim Berners-LeeSir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
the Order of MeritOrder of MeritThe Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
for his pioneering work on the world wide webWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Salman Rushdie receives a knighthoodKnighthood of Salman RushdieIn mid-June 2007 Salman Rushdie, British Indian novelist and author of controversial novel The Satanic Verses, was created a Knight Bachelor by HM Queen Elizabeth II. This action brought much controversy around the world in many countries with Muslim majority populations...
, sparking protests in IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Pakistan. - 20 June - Scarborough F.C.Scarborough F.C.Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...
, members of the Football League from 1987 to 1999, go out of business with debts of £2.5million. - 25 June -
- - Heavy flooding devastates the cities of Sheffield and Hull, causing at least three deaths.
- - Scarborough Athletic F.C.Scarborough Athletic F.C.Scarborough Athletic Football Club are an English football club formed on 25 June 2007 following the winding up of Scarborough. Although they bear the name of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, they ground-share with Bridlington Town...
is formed to replace the old Scarborough club.
- - Scarborough Athletic F.C.
- - Heavy flooding devastates the cities of Sheffield and Hull, causing at least three deaths.
- 29 June – Two car bombs are uncovered in central London but are defused before they can explode.
July
- 1 July
- A smoking ban comes into effect in all enclosed public places in England.
- Concert for DianaConcert for DianaConcert for Diana was a concert held at the then new Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday; 31 August that year brought the 10th anniversary of her death...
held in memory of Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
- 2 July
- Michael Mullen, 21, of LeedsLeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, is sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of his two-year-old niece Casey Leigh Mullen, who died at her home in the city on 11 February this year. The trial judge recommends that Mullen should serve a minimum of 35 years before being considered for parole. - Demolition work begins on the historic HP SauceHP SauceHP Sauce is a popular brown sauce originally produced by HP Foods in the UK, now produced by H.J. Heinz in the Netherlands.It is the best-known brand of brown sauce in the United Kingdom and Canada as well as the best selling, with 71% of the UK market....
factory in BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, which closed in May with the loss of 125 jobs and the end of more than 100 years of manufacturing when the production facility was transferred to the Netherlands.
- Michael Mullen, 21, of Leeds
- 6–8 July - The British Grand Prix2007 British Grand PrixThe 2007 British Grand Prix was the ninth race of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held from July 6 to July 8 at the Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen after overtaking pole position driver Lewis Hamilton during the first round of pit stops...
is held at the Silverstone CircuitSilverstone CircuitSilverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
, won by FerrariScuderia FerrariScuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
's Kimi RäikkönenKimi RäikkönenKimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
with home hero Lewis HamiltonLewis HamiltonLewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
finishing third behind McLarenMcLarenMcLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
team-mate Fernando AlonsoFernando AlonsoFernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
. - 22 July - Floods cause chaos through wide areas of Britain, especially the counties of GloucestershireGloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, WarwickshireWarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, WorcestershireWorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
and OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, leaving hundreds homeless and thousands of vehicles stranded on major roads.
August
- 2 August - First reports of outbreak of foot-and-mouth2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreakAn outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom was confirmed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs , on 3 August 2007, in the parish of Normandy, Surrey....
- 22 August - 11-year-old Rhys JonesMurder of Rhys JonesThe murder of Rhys Milford Jones occurred in Liverpool, England, when he was shot in the back. An 18-year-old youth, Sean Mercer, went on trial on 2 October 2008 and was convicted of murder on 16 December 2008....
is shot dead in CroxtethCroxtethCroxteth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Although housing in the area is predominantly modern, the suburb has some notable history. It is known locally as "Crocky"...
, LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. His death is believed to have been a random shooting carried out by a local gang.
September
- 1 September - Eurovision Dance ContestEurovision Dance Contest 2007The Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 was the 1st Eurovision Dance Contest a dance entertainment co-production between the EBU and the BBC. The first ever pan-European dance competition was held on 1 September 2007 in London, United Kingdom with the participation of 16 countries...
held in London. - 6 September - Murder victim Rhys JonesMurder of Rhys JonesThe murder of Rhys Milford Jones occurred in Liverpool, England, when he was shot in the back. An 18-year-old youth, Sean Mercer, went on trial on 2 October 2008 and was convicted of murder on 16 December 2008....
is buried following a funeral service at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. - 10 September - Television entertainer Michael BarrymoreMichael BarrymoreMichael Kieron Parker , better known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is a British comedian who appeared as a presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s and 1990s. These included Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People, My Kind of Music and Kids Say...
is told that he will not face charges in connection with the death of Stuart Lubbock, the man who was found dead in a swimming pool at his house more than six years ago.
October
- 20 October - South Africa defeats EnglandEngland national rugby team-Rugby union:* England national rugby union team, administered by the Rugby Football Union** England national rugby union team compete in the World Sevens Series-Rugby league:...
at the Rugby World Cup final in Stade de FranceStade de FranceThe Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
, Saint-DenisSaint-DenisSaint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Denis....
.
November
- 1 November - London's Metropolitan Police ServiceMetropolitan Police ServiceThe Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
is found guilty of endangering the public following the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de MenezesJean Charles de MenezesJean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...
, an innocent BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian who officers mistook for a suicide bomber. - 2 November - Four firefighters feared dead in the Atherstone fire disaster.
- 4 November - Nigel HastilowNigel HastilowNigel Hastilow is a journalist, author, businessman and politician. He is a former editor of the Birmingham Post and was Conservative Party candidate for Birmingham Edgbaston in the 2001 general election...
, a Tory candidate due to stand in Halesowen and Rowley Regis at the next general election, resigns after coming under heavy criticism for comments in the Express and Star newspaper in which he claimed that Enoch PowellEnoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
had been "right" about his fears over immigrationRivers of Blood speechThe "Rivers of Blood" speech was a speech criticising Commonwealth immigration, as well as proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on 20 April 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West...
. - 7 November - An inquest in EssexEssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
hears that Sally ClarkSally ClarkSally Clark was a British solicitor who became the victim of an infamous miscarriage of justice when she was wrongly convicted of the murder of two of her sons in 1999...
died of "acute alcohol intoxicationAlcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
".http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7082411.stm - 8–9 November - North Sea floodNorth Sea flood of 2007The North Sea flood of 2007 was a storm tide of the North Sea affecting the coastlines of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Belgium, starting on the night of 8–9 November 2007....
. - 14 November
- High Speed 1 from London to the Channel TunnelChannel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
is opened to passengers. - Full rollout of UK digital terrestrial television switchover begins with complete turning off of the analogueAnalogue television in the United KingdomAnalogue television in the United Kingdom includes terrestrial, satellite and cable services broadcasting using analogue television signals.-Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom:...
signal to the WhitehavenWhitehavenWhitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
area.
- High Speed 1 from London to the Channel Tunnel
- 26 November - DonorgateDonorgateThe Labour party proxy and undeclared donations was a political scandal involving the British Labour Party in November and December 2007, when it was discovered that, contrary to legislation passed during the Blair Government, the Party had been receiving significant financial donations made...
: Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
official Peter WattPeter WattPeter Martin Watt was the General Secretary of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom from January 2006 until he resigned in November 2007 as a result of the Donorgate affair.-Early and family life:...
resigns over loans received by the party from David Abrahams.