Events from the year 1998 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – Tony Blair (Labour)
Events January 5 January – The UK takes over the Presidency of the EC's Council of Ministers until 30 June. 8 January – The notable composer Sir Michael Tippett dies in London following a stroke shortly after his ninety-third birthday.
February 3 February – Stamps commemorating the late Diana, Princess of Wales, go on sale in the UK. 7–22 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and win one bronze medal. 8 February – Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell dies in hospital in London aged 85. 12 February – Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, says that he is "99.9% certain" that his son's death in the car crash that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997 was a conspiracy to kill rather than an accident. He also claims that his son had purchased an engagement ring just before the crash and had been preparing to propose marriage to Diana. A lawyer in Mr Al Fayed's native Egypt was planning to sue the Queen and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on the grounds that they had conspired to kill Diana because her love for a Muslim would embarrass the country. 24 February – The conviction of Somali sailor Mahmood Mattan, hanged in 1952 at Cardiff Prison for the murder of pawnbroker Lily Volpert, is overturned by the Court of Appeal, with Mr Justice Rose describing the original conviction as "demonstrably flawed". The Mattan case is the first to be referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. 28 February – Lancet MMR autism fraud: A study by Andrew Wakefield published in The Lancet suggests a link between MMR vaccine and autism; although subsequently discredited and retracted, it is widely influential on vaccination rates.
March 6 March – Closure of South Crofty, the last working tin mine in Cornwall. 31 March – The Rolls-Royce Motors brand is acquired by German car manufacturer BMW.
April April – Vauxhall launches its fourth generation Astra small family car range. The initial range consists of hatchbacks, saloons and estates, with coupe and cabriolet models arriving in two years. 1 April – The historic counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire are reestablished, 24 years after they merged to form Hereford and Worcester. Berkshire County Council is abolished and replaced by unitary authorities. 5 April – Rock drummer Cozy Powell, 50, is killed in a car accident on the M4 near Bristol. 10 April – The Good Friday Agreement, an agreement between the UK and Irish governments and the main political parties in Northern Ireland is signed. 27 April – Kevin Lloyd, who was best known for playing the character of Tosh Lines in The Bill, is dismissed from the role after ten years by ITV due to his alcoholism. He dies, the following week, aged 49. 28 April – Donna Keogh disappears in Middlesbrough.
May 2 May – Police in Maryland, United States, reveal that they have arrested and bailed former English footballer Justin Fashanu over an allegation of sexual assault against a seventeen-year-old male, and they believe he has now breached his bail conditions and fled the country; he commits suicide in London. 9 May – The Eurovision Song Contest held in Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena. 15 May – 24th G8 summit held in Birmingham. 20 May – Nurses Deborah Parry and Lucille McLauchlan, who had been convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Yvonne Gilford the previous year, have their sentences commuted by the order of King Fahd and are returned to the UK. 23 May – Referendums on the Good Friday Agreement are held in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with 95% and 71% support respectively.
June June – The DVD format is released onto the UK market for the first time. Among the first set of titles released on the new format is Jumanji. The format will sell just over 6,000 discs by the end of the year. 15 June – First general-circulation issue of a two pound coin, with a bi-metallic design (dated 1997). 23 June – The Heathrow Express rail link begins operation. 27 June – The Diana, Princess of Wales Tribute Concert is held at Althorp Park in Northamptonshire, and attended by 15,000 people.
July 12 July – Drumcree conflict: Three young children are killed in a loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force arson attack in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland. 31 July Crime and Disorder Act receives Royal Assent. It introduces Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, and 'racially aggravated' offences. It makes it possible for a young person between ten and fourteen to be presumed capable of committing an offence and formally abolishes capital punishment for treason and piracy, the last civilian offences for which the death penalty remained theoretically available. The Government of Wales Act 1998, which will establish a devolved Welsh Assembly, receives Royal Assent. The UK Government announces a total ban on the use of land mines by the British military.
August 10 August – Manchester United TV begins broadcasting, making Manchester United F.C. the world's second football team to have its own television channel, the first being Middlesbrough (Boro TV) in 1997. 15 August – Omagh bombing: A car bomb explodes in the Northern Irish market town of Omagh, County Tyrone, killing 29 people – the worst terrorist atrocity in the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It has been planted by the Real Irish Republican Army. 18 August – Mathematicians Richard Borcherds and Timothy Gowers are awarded Fields Medals. 22 August – Reading F.C. move into their new Madejski Stadium, named after chairman John Madejski, near junction 11 of the M4 motorway in the south of Reading. It seats more than 24,000 spectators. 24 August The Netherlands is selected as the venue for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial of two Libyans who are charged with causing the explosion of an aircraft at Lockerbie that killed 270 people in December 1988. First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom by Kevin Warwick at the University of Reading.
September 8 September – The Real IRA announces a ceasefire. 10 September – In Northern Ireland, David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party meets Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin – the first such meeting between republicans and unionists since 1922. 16 September – The Union Jack dress worn by the Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is sold at Sotheby's for £41,320 19 September – Sarah Ferguson's mother, Susan Barrantes, is killed in a car accident in Argentina aged 61.
October October – Ford launches its new Focus range of small family hatchbacks, saloons and estates which will eventually replace the long-running Escort although that model would continue until the year 2000 and the van model lasting until 2002. 16 October – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: Police place General Augusto Pinochet, the 83-year-old former dictator of Chile, into house arrest during his medical treatment in the UK at the request of Spain. 17 October – Actress Joan Hickson dies aged 92 of a stroke in a hospital at Colchester, Essex, six years after her final television appearance as Miss Marple. 27 October – Ron Davies resigns as Secretary of State for Wales, citing "an error of judgement" in agreeing to go for what he said was a meal with a man he had met while walking on Clapham Common in London, which is a well known gay meeting place, and subsequently being mugged. 28 October – The Poet Laureate Ted Hughes dies of cancer in a hospital in London, aged 68.
November November – Peugeot launches the 206 supermini which is being built at the Ryton plant near Coventry. 9 November – Human Rights Act receives Royal Assent. 24 November – The Queen's Speech announces the government plan to abolish the rights of 700 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords; unprecedentedly this is met with audible "hear hears". 25 November – Appointed Regional development agencies and Regional chambers ("Regional assemblies") in England are created under the Regional Development Agencies Act. 26 November – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas (Parliament of the Republic of Ireland).
December December – The Ford Focus is voted European Car of the Year. 10 December John Hume and David Trimble win the Nobel Peace Prize. John Pople wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry". 26 December – Great Boxing Day Storm: severe gale-force winds hit Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. Roads, railways and electricity are disrupted. 29 December – Three British tourists are among those shot during a gun battle to free them from kidnappers in Yemen.
Date unknown The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association is created.
Publications Beryl Bainbridge's novel Master Georgie. Iain M. Banks' novel Inversions. Julian Barnes's novel :England, England. Ted Hughes's poetry collection Birthday Letters. Nigella Lawson's guide How to Eat: the pleasures and principles of good food. Ian McEwan's novel Amsterdam. John O'Farrell's political memoir Things Can Only Get Better. Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels The Last Continent and Carpe Jugulum. J. K. Rowling's novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Births
2 January George Miller, footballer Ollie Pope, cricketer 4 January – Tia Rigg, murder victim (died 2010) 7 January – Ben Earl, rugby union player 15 January – Chloe Kelly, footballer 18 January – Alfie McIlwain, actor 2 February – Chris Smith, footballer 3 February – Zak Crawley, cricketer 4 February – Scott Jones, athlete 15 February – George Russell, racing driver 21 February – Ella-Rae Smith, actress and model 27 February Sam Smith, footballer Theo Stevenson, actor 13 March – Oliver Stokes, actor 14 March – George Bartlett, cricketer 24 March – Isabel Suckling, singer 11 April – Oliver Dillon, actor 12 April – Tom Pearce, footballer 14 April – Arthur Bowen, actor 22 April – Jay Dasilva, footballer 29 April – Ella Hunt, actress 8 May – Sam Field, footballer 14 May – Aaron Ramsdale, footballer 3 June – Sam Curran, cricketer. 4 June Jack Blatherwick, cricketer Central Cee, rapper 7 June – Graham Newberry, American-English figure skater 10 June – Johnny Bennett, actor 14 June – Julia Joyce, actress 21 June – Isabel Atkin, freestyle skier 30 June – Tom Davies, footballer 1 July – Hollie Steel, classical crossover singer 5 July - Georgie Aldous, british social activist, model and influencer 19 July Ronaldo Vieira, footballer Amar Virdi, cricketer Lil Woods, actress 20 July – Sinead Michael, actress 28 July – Sam Surridge, footballer 2 August – Giarnni Regini-Moran, artistic gymnast 6 August – Jack Scanlon, actor 8 August – Ronan Parke, pop singer 14 August – Amy Marren, swimmer 29 August- Sianna Trebicki, Icon/Legend 5 September – Helena Barlow, actress 9 September – Shannon Matthews, kidnapping victim 21 September – Prem Sisodiya, cricketer 2 October – Zack Morris, actor 7 October – Trent Alexander-Arnold, footballer 17 October – Erin Kellyman, actress 18 October – Jack Carroll, comic actor 20 October – Jordan Allan, footballer 22 October Georgina Anderson, pop singer (died 2013) Harry Souttar, footballer 29 October – Matthew Potts, cricketer 11 November – Tom Banton, cricketer 21 November – Will Jacks, cricketer 28 November – Ronan McKenzie, kart racing driver 1 December – Ollie Robinson, cricketer 3 December – Marcus Edwards, footballer 11 December – Gabz (Gabrielle Gardiner), singer-songwriter 14 December – Lukas Nmecha, footballer 17 December – Jasmine Armfield, actress 24 December – Declan McKenna, pop singer
Deaths January
2 January – Frank Muir, actor, comedy writer and raconteur (born 1920)