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2000 in the United Kingdom

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}

{{Year in United Kingdom|2000

|label1= Countries of the United Kingdom

|data1 = England {{!}} Northern Ireland {{!}} Scotland {{!}} Wales

|label2= Popular culture

|data2 =

2000 British Grand Prix

2000 English cricket season

Football: England {{!}} Scotland {{!}} Wales

2000 in British television

2000 in British music

2000 in British radio

UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

}}

Events from the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

=January=

  • Japanese carmaker Nissan adds a third model to its factory near Sunderland: the new generation of the Almera hatchback and saloon which goes on sale in March.{{cite web|url=http://www.qashqaiclub.co.uk/sunderland_History.htm|title=Nissan Sunderland-history: January 2000|access-date=16 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511040246/http://www.qashqaiclub.co.uk/sunderland_History.htm|archive-date=11 May 2012|url-status=dead}}
  • 1 January – Millennium celebrations take place throughout the UK. The Millennium Dome in London is officially opened by HM The Queen.
  • 4 January – Catherine Hartley and Fiona Thornewill become the first British women to reach the South Pole.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4/newsid_2496000/2496157.stm|title=First British women reach South Pole|access-date=31 January 2008|date=4 January 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112153225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/4/newsid_2496000/2496157.stm|archive-date=12 January 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 10 January – Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, is fined for not having a valid train ticket with her on a journey from Blackfriars to Luton. She claims to have had only Portuguese currency with her at the time and to have been unable to find a machine where she could use her credit card.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/597734.stm|work=BBC News|title=PM's wife pays penalty fare|access-date=18 April 2018}}
  • 11 January – A Scottish trawler, the Solway Harvester, sinks in the Irish Sea, killing seven sailors.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/11/newsid_2520000/2520857.stm|title=Seven missing in Irish Sea |access-date=31 January 2008|date=11 January 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134641/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/11/newsid_2520000/2520857.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 12 January – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: It is announced that former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, is to be deported after the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, accepts "unequivocal and unanimous" medical evidence that Pinochet is unfit to stand trial in Spain on charges of torture.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/12/pinochet.chile3|title=Pinochet to be set free|first=Nicholas|last=Watt|date=12 January 2000|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=18 April 2018}}
  • 22 January – The Rugby league 2000 World Club Challenge is won by Melbourne Storm who defeat St. Helens 44 – 6 at the JJB Stadium in Wigan.
  • 28 January – The Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Nigel Jones, is attacked at his constituency surgery by a mentally disturbed man with a samurai sword. Andrew Pennington, a councillor, comes to Jones's defence but is stabbed nine times and dies later aged 39.{{cite news |title=Medal for man who died saving MP |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1627545.stm |work=BBC News |date=30 October 2001 |access-date=22 September 2022}}
  • 31 January – Dr. Harold Shipman is sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering fifteen elderly women patients in Greater Manchester between 1995 and 1998. He is also sentenced to four years in prison, to run concurrently, for forging the will of one of his victims.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31/newsid_2505000/2505843.stm|title=Life for serial killer Shipman|access-date=31 January 2008|date=31 January 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203195611/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/31/newsid_2505000/2505843.stm|archive-date=3 February 2008|url-status=live}} The subsequent enquiry considers him to have killed at least 215.{{cite news|title=Harold Shipman: Timeline|work=BBC News|date=18 July 2002|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2136444.stm|access-date=18 June 2019}}

= February =

  • 3 February – At the Ceredigion by-election, Simon Thomas holds the seat for Plaid Cymru.{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/M16.pdf |title=Factsheet M16: By-election results, 1997–2001 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |date=September 2003 |access-date=10 January 2020}}
  • 10 February – A group of hijackers hijack an Ariana Afghan Airways plane and force it to fly to the United Kingdom. The plane lands at London Stansted airport and the hijackers surrender to authorities there.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/07/stansted.theairlineindustry|title=Nine Afghans guilty of hijacking jet to safety|first=Jamie|last=Wilson|date=7 December 2001|accessdate=7 May 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}}
  • 11 February
  • The Royal Bank of Scotland succeeds in the hostile takeover battle for its larger English rival, NatWest Bank, successfully defeating a rival offer made by the Bank of Scotland.{{cite news|title=Metro|last=McGuinness|first=Ross|date=16 March 2009|pages=30, 31}}
  • Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended
  • 15 February – Waterhouse report into the North Wales child abuse scandal published.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,232865,00.html|title=Questions and answers that surround a catalogue of abuse against children|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=31 January 2008|date=16 February 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112100805/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C%2C232865%2C00.html|archive-date=12 January 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 25 February – Murder of Victoria Climbié (aged 8) in London after torture and neglect by her guardians, her aunt Marie Therese Kouao and Kouao's partner Carl Manning; local authority social services departments will be severely criticised for their shortcomings in the case.
  • 28 February – The chief of British Nuclear Fuels resigns over a safety scandal at Sellafield.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/28/newsid_2515000/2515111.stm|title=Nuclear chief quits over safety scandal|access-date=31 January 2008|date=28 February 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303101450/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/28/newsid_2515000/2515111.stm|archive-date=3 March 2008|url-status=live}}

=March=

  • 2 March – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: The UK deports Augusto Pinochet to his native Chile where he will face trial for human rights violations.{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}
  • 14 March – All stores of furniture retailer World of Leather and its parent Uno plc close.{{cite web|title=Consumer Protection (Uno plc and World of Leather)|url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000524/halltext/00524h03.htm|work=House of Commons Hansard Debates|publisher=parliament.uk|date=24 May 2000|access-date=13 September 2010|page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007165124/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000524/halltext/00524h03.htm|archive-date=7 October 2008|url-status=dead}}
  • 15 March – BMW announces plans to sell the Rover Group, with London-based Alchemy consortium emerging as favourites for a takeover.
  • 25 March – David Trimble wins the leadership election of the Ulster Unionist Party.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/25/newsid_2531000/2531197.stm|title=Trimble narrowly wins leadership challenge|access-date=31 January 2008|date=25 March 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134402/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/25/newsid_2531000/2531197.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 31 March – Myra Hindley, who has spent 34 years in prison for her role in the Moors murders, loses a third High Court appeal against a Home Office ruling that her life sentence should mean life.

=April=

  • April – The Ministry of Defence publishes a booklet Soldiering – The Military Covenant which introduces the term into public discourse referring to the mutual obligations between the nation and its armed forces.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/mar/04/defence.military|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=What is the military covenant?|first=Andrew|last=Sparrow|date=4 March 2008|access-date=9 February 2011}}
  • 1 April
  • An Enigma machine is stolen from Bletchley Park Museum.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_4314000/4314187.stm|title=Wartime coding machine stolen|access-date=31 January 2008|date=1 April 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134646/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_4314000/4314187.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • Section 27 of the Access to Justice Act 1999{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1999/19990022.htm|title=Access to Justice Act 1999|access-date=18 January 2011 }} comes into force allowing recovery of fees from the losing party in civil actions, extending the availability of conditional fee arrangements.
  • 3 April – The Immigration and Asylum Act means that all asylum seekers in England and Wales will now receive vouchers to cover the cost of food and clothing.
  • 4 April – Charlie Kray, one of the infamous Kray brothers, dies in a hospital on the Isle of Wight after suffering a heart attack in Parkhurst Prison at age 73.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/701959.stm|title=Gangster Charlie Kray dies|work=BBC News|date=4 April 2000|access-date=18 June 2019}}
  • 12 April – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is presented with the George Cross by The Queen.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2478000/2478009.stm|title=Queen honours NI police|access-date=31 January 2008|date=12 April 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134720/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2478000/2478009.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 14 April
  • Kenneth Noye, the so-called "M25 killer", is sentenced to life imprisonment.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/14/newsid_2478000/2478253.stm|title=M25 killer gets life|access-date=31 January 2008|date=14 April 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134459/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/14/newsid_2478000/2478253.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • Clark v University of Lincolnshire and Humberside decided in the Supreme Court determining that actions by universities established by statute are subject to judicial review, though the courts will not adjudicate on questions of academic judgment.
  • 19 April – Tony Martin is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a sixteen-year-old burglar, Fred Barras, he shot dead at his Norfolk farmhouse eight months ago; he is also convicted of the attempted murder of Brendon Fearon, the burglar wounded when Martin opened fire.
  • 29 April – At Murrayfield Stadium, the 2000 Challenge Cup rugby league tournament culminates in the Bradford Bulls' 24 – 18 win in the final against the Leeds Rhinos.

=May=

  • 1 May – May Day riot in Central London by anti-capitalist protestors. The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square and the Cenotaph in Whitehall are daubed with graffiti.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/1/newsid_2480000/2480215.stm|title=May Day violence on London streets|access-date=31 January 2008|date=1 May 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202184529/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/1/newsid_2480000/2480215.stm|archive-date=2 February 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 3 May – The London Stock Exchange and Germany's Deutsche Börse announce plans to amalgamate;{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481359.stm|title=Leading stock exchanges plan merger|access-date=31 January 2008|date=3 May 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134249/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3/newsid_2481000/2481359.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}} this never happens.
  • 4 May
  • London mayoral election: Ken Livingstone, standing as an independent, becomes the first directly elected Mayor of London defeating Steve Norris, the Conservative Party candidate in second place; and Frank Dobson, the Labour Party candidate in third place.
  • At the Romsey by-election following the death of Conservative MP Michael Colvin, the Liberal Democrat candidate Sandra Gidley wins the seat.
  • 9 May
  • BMW sells the bulk of the Rover Group (the Rover and MG marques) to the Phoenix Consortium, while it retains the rights to the Mini marque and sells Land Rover to Ford.
  • Convicted child murderer and paedophile Ronald Jebson is further convicted at the Old Bailey of killing Susan Blatchford, 11, and Gary Hanlon, 12. Both disappeared in 1970 after leaving Gary's home in Enfield to go for a walk together. Their bodies were found 11 weeks after their disappearance on Lippitts Hill, Epping Forest.{{cite web |title=Man admits 'Babes in wood' killings |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/741689.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=11 September 2023 |date=9 May 2000}}
  • 11 May – Introduction of services on Croydon Tramlink, the first trams in London since 1952.{{cite web|title=Tramlink Information|url=http://www.transportforall.org.uk/public/tram/|website=Transport for All|access-date=7 December 2017}}
  • 12 May
  • The Tate Modern art museum is opened to the public in London.
  • Ford announces that production of cars at the Dagenham plant will end when the Fiesta launches a new generation in 2002.
  • 17 May – Royal Marines Alan Chambers and Charlie Paton become the first British people to reach the Geographic North Pole unaided.
  • 20 May – Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1–0 to win the last FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium before the old stadium (which is due to close in October) is rebuilt.{{cite web|url=http://www.facupfootball.co.uk/fa-cup-2000.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328124942/http://www.facupfootball.co.uk/fa-cup-2000.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=28 March 2010|title=FA Cup 2000|access-date=20 March 2009}}
  • 21 May
  • Best-selling author Dame Barbara Cartland dies aged 98 at her home near Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
  • Long-serving actor Sir John Gielgud dies aged 94 at his home at Wooton Underwood, Buckinghamshire.
  • 24 May – National Botanic Garden of Wales opens to the public in Carmarthenshire.{{cite web|title=The National Botanic Garden of Wales|url=http://cymru.gov.uk/topics/cultureandsport/nbgw/;jsessionid=yhcQM6XVlrnlgvthXv0tp5TGzNFvL21Q59LFTtJQFTFclYQLfDhC!400200015?lang=en|publisher=Welsh Assembly Government|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-date=8 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008041112/http://cymru.gov.uk/topics/cultureandsport/nbgw/;jsessionid=yhcQM6XVlrnlgvthXv0tp5TGzNFvL21Q59LFTtJQFTFclYQLfDhC!400200015?lang=en|url-status=dead}}
  • 25 May – National Waste Strategy, covering England and Wales, first published.{{cite web|title=HC Deb 24 May 2000 vol 350 cc542-4W|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2000/may/24/waste-strategy#S6CV0350P0-08741|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|year=2000|access-date=24 July 2008}}

=June=

  • June – Celtic Manor Wales Open European Tour golf tournament first played.
  • 7 June – Tony Blair receives a hostile reception during a speech at the Women's Institute, where he is heckled and slow hand-clapped by furious members.
  • 8 June – The British military attaché to Greece, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, aged 52, is shot dead while driving in Athens; the Greek terrorist group 17 November later claims responsibility.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/782245.stm |work=BBC News |title=British diplomat shot dead in Athens |date=8 June 2000 |accessdate=28 September 2022}}
  • 10 June – The much-anticipated Millennium Bridge across the Thames in London opens to the public, but has to close after it starts swaying.
  • 12 June–20 June – The England national football team participates at Euro 2000, jointly hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium. Despite beating Germany, England are eliminated in the group stage after two defeats.
  • 21 June – Repeal in Scotland of controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 which prevented local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". Section 28 is not repealed in the rest of the UK until 2003.
  • 22 June – At the Tottenham by-election following the death of Labour MP Bernie Grant, the Labour candidate David Lammy holds the seat.
  • 30 June – David Copeland is found guilty of causing three nail bomb attacks in London last year. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and the trial judge recommends that he should serve at least thirty years before being considered for parole, meaning that he is likely to remain in prison until at least 2029 and the age of 54.

=July=

  • July – Vauxhall launches the all-new Agila city car.
  • 5 July – Colin Fallows, driving the Vampire turbojet-propelled dragster, sets a British land speed record, a mean {{convert|300.3|mi/h|km/h|1|abbr=on}}, at Elvington, Yorkshire.{{cite news|first1=Fran|last1=Yeoman|first2=Ian|last2=Evans|title=300mph record broken, then Hammond crashes|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article646237.ece|work=The Times|location=London|date=21 September 2006|access-date=8 February 2011}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
  • 14 July – Reality television game show Big Brother first airs in the UK.
  • 17 July – Murder of Sarah Payne: an 8-year-old Surrey girl is found dead in West Sussex, having gone missing sixteen days earlier. On 23 July, the News of the World starts a campaign for Sarah's Law, a child sex offender disclosure scheme.
  • 18 July – Alex Salmond resigns as leader of the Scottish National Party.
  • 20 July
  • Production of the Ford Escort, one of Britain's most successful and iconic motoring nameplates, finishes after 32 years, although remaining stocks of the model would continue to be sold until early 2001 while the van model would continue to be produced until 2002.
  • Rioting breaks out in Brixton (south London) following the fatal shooting of Derek Bennett, a 29-year-old black man, by armed police in the area. 27 people are arrested and three police officers are injured.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1449598.stm|title=Violence after police shooting demo|work=BBC News|date=21 July 2001|access-date=19 June 2016}}
  • 28 July – The final eighty prisoners leave Maze Prison in Northern Ireland as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/28/newsid_2496000/2496901.stm|title=Last prisoners leave the Maze|access-date=31 January 2008|date=28 July 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134614/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/28/newsid_2496000/2496901.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}

=August=

  • 3 August – Rioting erupts on the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth after more than 100 people besiege a block of flats allegedly housing a convicted child sex offender, the latest vigilante violence against suspected sex offenders since the beginning of the "naming and shaming" campaign by the News of the World.
  • 4 August – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother celebrates her hundredth birthday.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/4/newsid_2491000/2491751.stm|title=Queen Mother celebrates centenary|access-date=31 January 2008|date=4 August 2000|work=On this Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134542/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/4/newsid_2491000/2491751.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 26 August – Gangster and murderer Reggie Kray, in the thirty-second year of his life sentence at Broadmoor Hospital, is released from prison on compassionate grounds by Home Secretary Jack Straw due to bladder cancer from which he is expected to die within weeks.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/896983.stm|work=BBC News|title=Reggie Kray freed|access-date=16 May 2013}}

=September=

  • September
  • Curriculum 2000 reform of GCE Advanced Level examinations introduced.
  • Ford unveils its all-new second generation Mondeo large family car, which is due for sale towards the end of this year.
  • 8 September – UK fuel protests: Protesters block the entrances to oil refineries in protest against high fuel prices. Panic buying by motorists, leads to nationwide petrol shortages, with between 75 and 90% of all UK petrol stations closing due to low supplies in the following week.
  • 10 September – Operation Barras, a British military operation to free five soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment who have been held captive for over two weeks during the Sierra Leone Civil War, rescues all of them.
  • 14 September – After beginning the year 20 points behind the Labour government in the opinion polls, the Conservative opposition's hopes of winning the next election (due to be held within eighteen months) are boosted when they come two points ahead of Labour on 38% in a MORI opinion poll.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8280050.stm|title=Poll tracker|work=BBC News|year=2010|access-date=2019-06-18}} This marks the first time the Conservatives have led the Labour Party in national opinion polling since January 1993.
  • 15 September–1 October – Great Britain competes at the Olympics in Sydney and wins 11 Gold, 10 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.
  • 18 September – Survivors of the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail disasters criticise Railtrack for putting costs ahead of safety and causing a series of blunders which led to the tragedies.
  • 20 September – A missile is fired from a rocket launcher at the MI6 headquarters building in central London, striking the eighth floor. It is the first time this type of weapon has been used on the mainland, with the Real IRA suspected of being behind the attack.{{cite web |title=MI6 attack weapon identified |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/937298.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=11 September 2023 |date=22 September 2000}}
  • 21 September – William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party wins the South Antrim by-election from the Ulster Unionist Party.
  • 23 September
  • Earthquake in Warwickshire.{{cite news|first1=Krysia|last1=Diver|first2=Lucy|last2=Wilson|title=Thousands Feel the Earth Move: Quake's 5.30 am wake-up alarm|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/THOUSANDS+FEEL+THE+EARTH+MOVE%3B+Quake's+5.30 am+wake-up+alarm.-a065452142|work=Coventry Evening Telegraph|date=23 September 2000|access-date=8 September 2010}}
  • Rower Steve Redgrave wins his fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/23/newsid_3534000/3534760.stm|title=Redgrave wins fifth Olympic gold|access-date=31 January 2008|date=23 September 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/23/newsid_3534000/3534760.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 29 September – HM Prison Maze, a prison used to incarcerate members of illegal paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, closes as a result of the Good Friday Agreement.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/949924.stm |title=Maze prison closes |date=September 30, 2000 |website=BBC News |access-date=May 23, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 26, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040526105846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/949924.stm}}

=October=

  • October – Ford launches the all-new Mondeo with a range of hatchbacks, saloons and estates.
  • 1 October – Reggie Kray dies from cancer at a hotel in Norwich aged 66.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/951580.stm|title=Reggie Kray dies|work=BBC News|date=1 October 2000|access-date=18 June 2019}}
  • 3 October – Approximate start of Autumn 2000 Western Europe floods, particularly affecting England, the worst nationally since the winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom, precipitated by the most rainfall since 1766.
  • 4 October – After 41 years, production of the Mini ends at the Longbridge plant owned by MG Rover in Birmingham. The new model will go into production next Spring at the Cowley plant in Oxford that is owned by German carmaker BMW.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/955500.stm|title=End of the Mini|work=BBC News|date=4 October 2000|access-date=18 June 2019}}
  • 7 October – Wembley Stadium closes after seventy-seven years. It is set to reopen in 2003, following a complete reconstruction that will see its seating capacity raised to 90,000 all-seated. In the final game at the old stadium, the England football team loses 1–0 to Germany in their opening qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup and manager Kevin Keegan resigns after eighteen months in charge.
  • 10 October – Donald Dewar, the first First Minister of Scotland, is taken to hospital following a fall outside Bute House, his official Edinburgh residence; his health rapidly deteriorates and he dies in office the following day, aged 63.
  • 16 October – The BBC's main evening news programme moves to 10pm; early the following year, ITV will move its news programme back to the same time slot and broadcast in direct competition.
  • 17 October – Hatfield rail crash: A Great North Eastern Railway InterCity 225 train derails south of Hatfield station, killing four people.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491425.stm|title=Four dead in Hatfield rail crash|access-date=31 January 2008|date=17 October 2000|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491425.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}}
  • 23 October
  • After the fuel protests has been resolved, support for the Labour Party has been restored, according to the latest MORI opinion poll which shows them 13 points ahead of the Conservatives with an approval rating of 45%.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=103|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923031349/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=103|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-09-23|title=Voting intention in Great Britain: 1976-present|website=Ipsos MORI}}
  • Michael Martin is elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons following the retirement of Betty Boothroyd.
  • 26–27 October – Following the death of Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish is selected to be First Minister of Scotland by the Scottish Parliament, and is officially appointed by The Queen.
  • 26 October – House of Lords delivers judgement in White v White, a landmark case in redistribution of finances and property on divorce.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/19/divorce-law-history|newspaper=The Guardian|title=A brief history of divorce|date=19 September 2009|access-date=6 July 2010|location=London}}
  • 30 October – Sven-Göran Eriksson, the 52-year-old Swedish coach of Italian side Lazio, accepts an offer from the Football Association to take charge of the England football team for five years commencing next July. Eriksson will be the first foreign manager to take charge of the England national team, but until his arrival, the England team will be jointly managed by interim coaches Peter Taylor and Howard Wilkinson.

=November=

  • 7 November – The attempted theft of £350,000,000 worth of diamonds from the Millennium Dome is foiled by police.
  • 16 November – Actor Michael Caine receives a knighthood from the Queen.
  • 18 November – Marriage of American actor Michael Douglas and Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, exactly 25 years his junior, in New York City.
  • 20 November – Judith Keppel becomes the first person to win £1,000,000 on the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
  • 21 November – Dennis Canavan MSP for Falkirk West, resigns as the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West, triggering a by-election.
  • 23 November
  • Double by-election held in Glasgow Anniesland to elect successors to Donald Dewar's seats in both the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. Labour holds both seats with swings to the SNP of 6% and 7%.
  • The Preston by-election is won by the Labour Party candidate Mark Hendrick.
  • The West Bromwich West by-election is won by the Labour Party candidate Adrian Bailey.
  • 26 November – Rio Ferdinand, the 22-year-old England national football team defender, becomes the nation's most expensive player in an £18,000,000 transfer from West Ham United to Leeds United.{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2000/11/26/rio_record/ |title = CNNSI.com - Soccer - Ferdinand joins Leeds in record deal for defender - Sunday November 26, 2000 11:00 PM |access-date=5 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026133231/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2000/11/26/rio_record/ |archive-date=26 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}
  • 27 November – Damilola Taylor, a 10-year-old boy originally from Nigeria, is stabbed to death on his way home from school in Peckham, London.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_4448000/4448832.stm|title=Schoolboy Damilola Taylor dies in stabbing|access-date=31 January 2008|date=27 November 2000|work=On this Day|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307134702/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_4448000/4448832.stm|archive-date=7 March 2008|url-status=live}} At a third trial, held in 2006, two teenagers are convicted of his manslaughter.{{cite web|title=Damilola tragedy unfolds|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1057582.stm|work=BBC News|date=6 December 2000|access-date=5 January 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6032691.stm|title=Eight years for Damilola killers|date=9 October 2006|work=BBC News|access-date=2 May 2025}}
  • 30 November – Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 provides for regulation of political parties, elections and referendums, including limits on national expenditure by parties in elections.

=December=

  • 3 December – The Church of England introduces the Common Worship series of service books.
  • 8 December – The Equitable Life Assurance Society closes to new business{{cite web|url=http://www.equitable.co.uk/content/content_7.htm|title=Today & History|publisher=Equitable Life|date=26 June 2009|access-date=20 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629202114/http://www.equitable.co.uk/content/content_7.htm|archive-date=29 June 2009}} in the aftermath of the legal case Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman.
  • 18 December – British pop star Kirsty MacColl, 41, is accidentally killed while diving in Mexico, when a power boat enters a restricted area and collides with her.{{cite web|last = Kirsta |first = Alix |date = 31 July 2004 |url = http://www.alixkirsta.com/articles/kirstymaccoll/index.htm |title = The day the music died |work = alixkirsta.com |publisher = Alix Kirsta |access-date = 2 October 2022 }}
  • 21 December – Falkirk West by-election results in Eric Joyce retaining the seat for Labour, though with a majority reduced to just 705 votes in the face of a swing of 16.2% to the SNP.
  • 22 December – American pop star Madonna, 42, marries 32-year-old British film producer Guy Ritchie at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands.{{cite web|title=2000: Madonna weds her Guy|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/22/newsid_3290000/3290829.stm|work=On This Day|publisher=BBC News|year=2008|access-date=5 January 2013}}
  • 29 December – Arctic weather conditions blight Britain, with heavy snow and temperatures as low as −13 °C plaguing the country, causing extensive gridlocking on roads and railways.
  • 31 December – The Millennium Dome closes as planned after one year. It will be repurposed in 2007 when it becomes The O2 and the O2 Arena.

=Undated=

  • 2000 is the wettest year on record in the UK.Met Office figures. {{cite news|first=Damian|last=Carrington|title=2012 second wettest year on record for UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/03/2012-uk-second-wettest-year|work=The Guardian|date=3 January 2013|access-date=5 January 2013}}
  • Sales of the DVD format, first launched in the UK in June 1998, pass the 1 million mark, although the VHS format remains by far the most popular format of home video.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bva.org.uk/news-press-releases/10-years-and-dvd-still-going-strong |title = 10 years on and the DVD is still going strong {{!}} British Video Association |access-date=29 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000001/http://www.bva.org.uk/news-press-releases/10-years-and-dvd-still-going-strong |archive-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Publications

Births

File:2020-03-10 Fußball, Männer, UEFA Champions League Achtelfinale, RB Leipzig - Tottenham Hotspur 1DX 3696 by Stepro.jpg]]

File:Phil Foden 2022-11-21 1.jpg]]

File:ConnieTalbot1.jpeg]]

File:Erling Haaland 2023 (cropped-v2).jpg]]

File:Lewes 0 Chelsea DS 1 Pre Season 22 07 2017-599 (36103251735) (cropped).jpg]]

Deaths

=January=

File:Bernard Braine.jpg]]

=February=

File:Dominic-Bruce.jpg]]

File:Stanley Matthews 1962 (crop).jpg]]

=March=

File:Cab Kaye by Dixie Solleveld.jpg]]

File:Ian Dury 1.jpg]]

=April=

=May=

File:Dame Barbara Cartland Allan Warren.jpg]]

File:John Gielgud Allan Warren cropped.jpg]]

=June=

File:Vera Atkins.jpg]]

File:Mary Poppins4.jpg]]

=July=

File:JAA Gibson, 1942.jpg]]

=August=

File:GeoffreyPageSpitfire.jpg in his Spitfire]]

File:Sir Alec Guinness Allan Warren.jpg]]

=September=

File:6th Duke of Sutherland 22 Allan Warren.jpg]]

=October=

File:Donald Dewar First Minister.jpg]]

  • 1 October – Reggie Kray, convicted gangster and murderer, recently released from prison on compassionate grounds after serving more than 30 years of a life sentence (born 1933)
  • 5 October – Keith Roberts, science fiction author (born 1935)
  • 8 October – Charlotte Lamb, novelist (born 1937)
  • 9 October – Patrick Anthony Porteous, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1918)
  • 11 October – Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (born 1937){{cite web |last1=MacAskill |first1=Ewen |title=Donald Dewar |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/oct/11/scotlanddevolution.devolution7 |website=The Guardian |access-date=16 February 2023 |date=11 October 2000 |archive-date=9 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509053911/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/oct/11/scotlanddevolution.devolution7 |url-status=live}}
  • 17 October – Ivan Owen, voice actor (born 1927)
  • 22 October
  • Anthony Chinn, actor (born 1930 in Guyana)
  • Fred Pratt Green, Methodist minister and hymn writer (born 1903)
  • 25 October – John Sinclair Morrison, classicist (born 1913)
  • 30 October – Elizabeth Bradley, actress (born 1922)

=November=

File:Simon Wigg.jpg]]

=December=

File:Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington.jpg]]

File:Kirsty MacColl at Double Door Chicago.png]]

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{UK year nav}}

{{Year in Europe|2000}}

Category:2000s in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom