Файл: Great Britain_0816044740.pdf

1986

Rupert Murdoch moves printing of his newspapers to a new site at Wapping; this is designed to resist the strikes of print unions (January).

Britain and France agree to build Channel tunnel (February).

European Court rules that retirement age should be the same for men and women; the government takes no action (February).

Royal proclamation recognizes legal independence of Australia (March).

Thatcher allows American planes to use British bases to bomb targets in Libya in retaliation for terrorist attacks (April).

Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes; high levels of radiation in northern and western areas (April).

Northern Ireland Assembly dissolved (June). Court bans publication of works by former MI 5

officer, Peter Wright.

Privatization of British Gas (December).

1987

Violent clashes outside the Wapping print works result in 300 injuries (January).

The printers’ dispute ends (February).

British Airways privatized (February), as are British airports (July).

A channel ferry sinks, killing 200 (March). After the government fails to halt the publication

of Spycatcher, Peter Wright’s memoirs, in Australia (March), the book is published in the U.S. and Canada (May).

General election gives the Conservatives a majority of 101 (June).

Thatcher is denied an honorary degree from Oxford a second time (July).

Hurricane strikes Britain and destroys an estimated 15 million trees; 17 people killed (October 16).

“Black Monday” sees fall in share values of £50 million (October 19).

Government announces plan to introduce “community charge”—a poll tax—to replace local rates in 1990 (November).

Unemployment falls to 2.65 million, lowest in five years (November).

1988

Mrs. Thatcher is the longest-serving prime minister in the 20th century (January).

MPs vote in favor of televising proceedings in the House of Commons on an experimental basis for six months (February).

Liberals and Social Democrats merge, forming the Social and Liberal Democrats (March).

Three IRA gunmen are shot by Special Air Service forces in Gibraltar; government fails to suppress a TV documentary on the shootings (March–April).

Education Act introduces national curriculum (July).

North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha explodes, killing 150 (July).

Law Lords reject government claim for permanent ban on publication of Spycatcher (October).

Pan Am jetliner blown up by a terrorist bomb, falls on Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 270 people on board and 11 people on the ground (December).

1989

A Boeing 737 crashes on the M1 highway in Leicestershire, killing 47 (January).

Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, which had won the Whitbread Prize in 1988, is condemned by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who orders Rushdie’s execution for blasphemy (February).

Disaster at Hillsborough football stadium, where 95 Liverpool fans are killed in a stampede (April).

Britain rejects European Community social charter (May).

Violent protest in Parliament Square over Rushdie’s book (May).

Water companies privatized (September). “Guildford Four” released after police conduct in

their arrest and trial for alleged role in IRA bombings is exposed (October).

Britain and Argentina sign peace treaty (October). Sanctions proposed against South Africa by the Commonwealth are rejected by Britain

(October).

Mrs. Thatcher defeats a challenge to her leadership of the Conservative Party (December).

1990

South Africa lifts bans on political parties; Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years (February).

Demonstration against poll tax in Trafalgar Square; rioting follows (March).

Strangeways Prison seized by inmates and held for 25 days (April).

Declaration by NATO leaders formally signals the end of the cold war (July).

Iraq invades Kuwait; the EEC, United States, and Japan place an embargo on Iraqi oil (August).

Britain joins the exchange rate mechanism (ERM); summit meeting in Rome sets timetable for monetary union, with Thatcher in outspoken opposition (October).

Edward Heath negotiates with Saddam Hussein for release of British hostages (October).

Mary Robinson is elected the first woman president of Ireland (November).

Mrs. Thatcher faces a revolt within her party; in a leadership election she falls short of a majority by four votes and withdraws. In the second ballot for the new leader, John Major wins and becomes the new prime minister (November).

Privatization of electricity (December).

British troops assemble in Saudi Arabia (December).

1991

U.N. coalition launches invasion of Kuwait and Iraq with an air assault on Iraqi positions. Operation “Desert Storm” begins (January).

IRA mortar attack on 10 Downing Street (February).

Kuwait is liberated, and the Iraqi army destroyed, followed by a cease-fire in the Gulf War (February).

Court of Appeal quashes convictions of the “Birmingham Six” (February).

The poll tax is scrapped, replaced by a tax primarily on property (April).

Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of Communist Party (April).

Helen Sharman, Britain’s first female astronaut, joins two Russian astronauts on an eight-day mission to the MIR space station (May).

Government proposals to give polytechnics the same status as universities (May).

Conservatives lose 890 seats in local elections (May).

Convictions in Guildford and Woolwich bombings overturned (June).

Defense review called “Options for Change” (July).

Gorbachev dismisses Soviet government (August).

The EEC signs Maastricht Treaty for political and economic union (December).

1992

Meeting of a self-appointed Muslim Parliament of Great Britain (January).

All-party talks resume in Belfast (March). Despite weak showing in the opinion polls, the

general election gives the Conservatives a 21seat majority (April). Neil Kinnock resigns as head of the Labour Party. Betty Boothroyd becomes the first female Speaker of the House.

Secret Intelligence Service (MI 6) is acknowledged to exist for the first time (May).

Tactical nuclear missiles are to be scrapped (June).

Denmark rejects the Maastricht Treaty in a referendum (June).

John Smith is elected leader of the Labour Party (July).

Lloyd’s of London announces losses of over £2 billion (July).

Sterling crisis (August–September). Speculation puts pressure on the pound; U.K. membership in the ERM (exchange rate mechanism) is suspended.

Conservative Party conference divided over relations with Europe and over the announcement of closure of 31 coal mines, with a loss of 30,000 jobs (October).

General election in Ireland, plus referendum on abortion. Voters approve making information

on abortion available and allowing travel to other EEC countries to obtain an abortion; abortion itself is not approved (November).

High court rules that the government’s pit closure announcement was illegal, as it failed to consult unions and workers (December).

Prince Charles and Diana separate (December).

1993

Single European market begins (January). The EC is renamed the European Union (EU).

John Smith lays out new lines of Labour policy: less power for unions, less centralized government, abolition of the House of Lords (January).

The queen agrees to pay income tax and capital gains tax (February).

An IRA bomb in Warrington kills two boys and triggers a peace march in Dublin (March).

Government loses vote on Maastricht bill; budget includes doubling of VAT (value-added tax) on domestic fuel (March).

Large IRA bomb explodes in Bishopsgate, City of London (April).

Opinion polls show John Major has lowest support of any prime minister since polling began (June).

Government loses several votes but manages to win a vote of confidence (July).

Britain ratifies Maastricht Treaty (August). Public sector pay freeze (September).

Defense cuts require privatizing dockyards (October).

Downing Street Declaration by Major and Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds plans allparty talks on Northern Ireland (December).

1994

Prime Minister Major testifies before the Scott Inquiry into arms sales to Iraq, the first such testimony by a sitting head of government (January).

IRA mortar attack on Heathrow Airport (March). First women ordained in the Church of England

(March).

IRA announces temporary ceasefire (April). Conservatives lose heavily to Labour and Liber-

als in local elections (May).

John Smith dies of heart attack (May). Channel tunnel opens (May).

Labour gains in European elections, Liberals win their first two seats in the European parliament (June).

Tony Blair is elected leader of the Labour Party (July).

IRA announces cessation of military operations (August).

Blair proposes reform of Labour Party constitution (October).

Coal industry privatized (December). Government loses vote to extend VAT to fuel and

power (December).

The United Kingdom holds talks with Sinn Féin in Belfast (December).

1995

Army ends daylight patrols in Belfast (January). Collapse of Barings, the United Kingdom’s oldest

merchant bank (February).

Anglo-Irish Agreement on the future of Northern Ireland (February).

At a special Labour Party conference, Blair wins revision of Clause IV in the party constitution (April).

Conservatives lose more than 2,000 seats in local elections (May).

John Major resigns as Conservative Party leader, wins election over John Redwood (July), but a large number of MPs do not support Major.

David Trimble elected leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (September).

European Commission on Human Rights condemns the 1988 SAS shootings of IRA members in Gibraltar (September).

Metrication Day: Britain converts to metric units (October).

Nigeria suspended from the Commonwealth for the executions of human-rights activists, among them Ken Soro-Wiwa (November).

Referendum in Ireland narrowly approves divorce (November).

1996

Mitchell Commission reports on disarming of rival groups in Northern Ireland (January).

Scott Report on arms sales to Iraq finds that the government deliberately failed to inform Parliament of the sales (February).

Privatized passenger trains begin operation (February).

The Princess of Wales agrees to Prince Charles’s request for divorce (February).

IRA cease-fire ends with a bomb blast in London’s docklands, killing two (February).

Reports of links between Creutzfeld-Jacob disease and B.S.E. (“mad cow” disease) cause drop in beef sales and an EU ban on British beef exports (March).

Elections for constitutional forum in Northern Ireland (May).

Labour publishes plans for devolution for Scotland and Wales (June).

British and Irish leaders have talks with representatives of Ulster political parties; it is the first meeting of an elected assembly in 10 years (June).

IRA bomb in central Manchester injures hundreds of shoppers and workers (June).

1997

Geneticists in Scotland report first cloning of an adult sheep (February).

Major calls for general election after his government fails to keep its majority and comes under great public pressure due to scandals and policy problems (March).

IRA bomb and hoax campaign disrupts U.K. travel (April).

Labour wins election with 179-seat majority; Conservatives leave office after 18 years; Tony Blair becomes new prime minister; 120 women elected, nearly doubling the previous number; Liberal Democrats win 46 seats; Sinn Féin wins two seats, but the winners refuse to

take oath and do not enter the House of Commons (May).

John Major announces his resignation as party leader (May).

Gordon Brown, chancellor of the exchequer, announces that Bank of England will determine interest rates in future (May).

William Hague elected Conservative Party leader (June).

House of Commons votes for ban on handguns (June).

McDonald’s wins libel case against two environmental activists (June).

IRA resumes cease-fire of 1994 (July).

A former agent alleges that MI 5 had phone taps and secret files on prominent figures (August).

Princess Diana dies in an auto crash in Paris (August).

Devolution referenda pass in Scotland (74 percent) and Wales (50.3 percent). The Scottish Parliament also is granted powers to adjust tax levels (September).

The United Kingdom delays entry into European Monetary Union (EMU) (October).

Tony Blair meets with Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin (October).

1998

Sinn Féin suspended from peace talks (February). Welfare reform featured in Gordon Brown’s

budget (March).

“Good Friday” peace agreement signed by the United Kingdom, Ireland, and eight Northern Ireland political parties (April).

Peace agreement endorsed in referendum (May). Northern Ireland Assembly elected (June). Tony Blair delivers “Annual Report” on his gov-

ernment’s activities (July).

Strategic defense review sees cuts of over £915 million in the next three years (July).

Jenkins Commission on electoral reform recommends replacing the “first past the post” system with a form of proportional representation plus 150 seats from larger city and county areas (October).

1999

The “euro” is introduced as the common currency for 11 EU countries; note circulation is to begin in 2002 (January).

Northern Ireland Assembly creates a powersharing executive (February).

Hillsborough Declaration by Prime Minister Blair and Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern (April).

Bombings in London aimed at ethnic minorities and homosexuals (April).

Elections for new assemblies in Scotland and Wales. Labour gains the most seats, but no majority (May).

Government loses votes in the House of Lords on the reform of that body (June).

Former Soviet KGB agent Vasili Mitrokhin reveals the identities of a number of British spies (September).

The House of Lords votes on its abolition; creates an interim chamber of 92 hereditary peers (October).

2000

London mayoral election is won by Ken Livingstone, maverick Labour politican and former London council chairman. Though he

ran against the official Labour candidate and was expelled from the party for doing so, Livingstone polled 58 percent of the vote (May).

Fuel protest as farmers and truckers blockade oil refineries for a week. Tanker drivers and police do not force confrontation; petrol supplies dry up in days. Blair prepares emergency measures, but the protest is terminated. For a brief period, the Conservatives overtake Labour in opinion polls (September).

Human Rights Act comes into force. Passed in 1998, the act brings Britain into line with the European Convention on Human Rights. Similar legislation went into effect in Scotland in 1999 (October).

B.S.E. report reviews the history of the disease, suggests that the effects, and links to humans, were aggravated by bureaucratic and political lethargy and secrecy (October).

Millenium Dome exhibition criticized by National Audit Office report (November).

U.S. president Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland, calls for implementation of the Good Friday accord and asks IRA to ensure arms decommissioning (December).