Events from the year 1989 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
Events January 4 January – A memorial service is held for the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie air disaster two weeks ago. Margaret Thatcher and several other world political leaders are among more than 200 people present in the church service at the village of Old Dryfesdale near Lockerbie. 8 January – 44 people are killed in the Kegworth air disaster. 11 January Accident investigators say that the Kegworth air disaster was caused when pilot Kevin Hunt, who survived the crash, accidentally shut down the wrong engine. Abbey National building society offers free shares to its 5,500,000 members. 14 January – Muslims demonstrate in Bradford against The Satanic Verses, a book written by Salman Rushdie, burning copies of the book in the city streets. 19 January – Unemployment fell by 66,000 in December, to a nine-year low of just more than 2 million. It was last at this level in 1980. 25 January – John Cleese wins a libel case after the Daily Mirror described him as having become like his character Basil Fawlty in the sitcom Fawlty Towers. 27 January – Aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith dies aged 101 at his home in Hampshire.
February 5 February – At 6pm, the world's first commercial DBS system, Sky Television goes on air. Three new services – Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport – with the fourth being Sky Channel. 11 February – ITV airs the first episode of Home and Away, an Australian soap which was launched in its homeland last year. 12 February – Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane is murdered by the Ulster Defence Association. 14 February – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran places a fatwa with an order to kill on author Salman Rushdie following the publication of his controversial book The Satanic Verses, which has caused outrage among the Islamic community of Britain. 19 February – The Industrial Society offices at 3 Carlton House Terrace in London are severely damaged by fire. 20 February – Clive Barracks is damaged in a bombing. 23 February By-elections are held in Richmond (North Yorkshire) and Pontypridd in Wales following the departure of Conservative MP Leon Brittan to the European Commission, and the death of Labour MP Brynmor John on Boxing Day 1988 respectively. 27-year-old William Hague wins Richmond for the Conservatives, and Kim Howells wins Pontypridd for Labour. Den Watts, the hugely popular character played by Leslie Grantham in the BBC's soap opera EastEnders, departs from the series (which he joined at its inception four years ago) as the character fakes his death in an episode watched by more than 20 million viewers.
March 4 March – Purley rail crash: two trains collide at Purley, Surrey killing six people. 6 March – Two people are killed in the Glasgow Bellgrove rail accident. 7 March – Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with the UK over Salman Rushdie's controversial book The Satanic Verses. 16 March – Unemployment is now below 7% for the first time in eight years, but still remains marginally more than 2 million. 17 March – The three men convicted of murdering paperboy Carl Bridgewater in Staffordshire 10 years ago have their appeals rejected. A fourth man convicted in connection with the killing died in prison in 1981. 20 March – Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary are killed by the IRA. 26 March – Nigel Mansell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix.
April 5 April – 500 workers on the Channel Tunnel go on strike in a protest against pay and working conditions. 6 April – The government announces an end to the legislation which effectively guarantees secure work for more than 9,000 dockers over the remainder of their working lives. 10 April – Nick Faldo becomes the first English winner of the Masters Tournament in golf. 14 April – Ford launches the third generation of its Fiesta, the first to offer a 5-door version which is being built at the Dagenham plant in England and the Valencia plant in Spain. 15 April – 94 people are killed in the Hillsborough disaster during the FA Cup semi-final at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield during the FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool F.C.; three more will die later of serious injuries received and around 300 others are hospitalised. The death toll is the worst of any sporting disaster in Britain. The youngest victim is a 10-year-old boy, the oldest is 67-year-old Gerard Baron, brother of the late former Liverpool player Kevin Baron. Not until 1996 does a second coroner's inquest determine these to be unlawful killings. 16 April – Denis Howell, a former Labour sports minister, urges that the FA Cup final should go ahead this season despite consideration by the Football Association for it to be cancelled owing to the Hillsborough disaster. 17 April – Home Secretary Douglas Hurd announces plans to make all-seater stadiums compulsory for all Football League First Division clubs to reduce the risk of a repeat of the Hillsborough tragedy. 18 April The European Commission accuses Britain of failing to meet standards on drinking water. The Hillsborough disaster claims its 95th victim when 14-year-old Lee Nicol dies in hospital as a result of his injuries. He had been visited in hospital by Diana, Princess of Wales, hours before he died. Tottenham Hotspur remove perimeter fencing from their White Hart Lane stadium as the first step towards avoiding a repeat of the Hillsborough disaster in English football. 19 April The Sun newspaper sparks outrage on Merseyside about the Hillsborough Disaster with an article entitled "The Truth", supported by South Yorkshire police and locally based news agencies, which claims that spectators robbed and injured dead spectators, and attacked police officers when they were helping the injured and dying. Other newspapers including the Daily Star and Daily Mirror, as well as several regional newspapers, have also printed similar allegations. Channel Tunnel workers end their 14-day strike. Novelist Dame Daphne du Maurier dies aged 81 at her home in Par, Cornwall. 20 April The London Underground is at virtual standstill for a day as most of the workers go on strike in protest against plans for driver-only operated trains. A MORI poll shows Conservative and Labour support equal at 41%. 24 April – The BBC's Ceefax teletext is running as only a partial service today owing to a strike by broadcasting unions. 27 April – Security Service Act for the first time places MI5 on a statutory basis.Security Service Act 1989. 28 April John Cannan, of Sutton Coldfield, is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released after being found guilty of murdering one woman and sexually assaulting two others. The prime suspect also in the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh, he will die in prison in 2024. Fourteen Liverpool fans are convicted of manslaughter and receive prison sentences of up to three years in Brussels, Belgium, in connection with the Heysel disaster at the 1985 European Cup Final in which 39 spectators (most of them Italian) died. A further eleven Liverpool fans are cleared.
May 1–3 May – 54 prisoners stage a three-day protest on the roof of Risley Detention Centre before giving themselves up. 4 May – Margaret Thatcher completes ten years as Prime Minister – the first British Prime Minister of the 20th century to do so. 5 May – The Vale of Glamorgan constituency in South Wales is seized by the Labour Party in a by-election after 38 years of Conservative control. 8 May – More than 3,000 British Rail employees launch an unofficial overtime ban, walking out in protest at the end of their eight-hour shifts. 14 May – A public inquiry, headed by Lord Justice Taylor, begins into the Hillsborough disaster. 18 May – Unemployment is now below 2,000,000 for the first time since 1980. The Conservative government's joy at tackling unemployment is, however, marred by the findings of a MORI poll which shows Labour slightly ahead of them for the first time in almost three years. 19 May – Walshaw Dean Lodge, West Yorkshire, enters the UK Weather Records with the Highest 120-min total rainfall at 193 mm. As of July 2006 this record still stands. 20 May – Liverpool win the FA Cup final with a 3–2 victory over their Merseyside rivals Everton. It is the second all-Merseyside cup final in four seasons, and as happened in 1986, Ian Rush is on the scoresheet for Liverpool twice. It is their fourth title in the competition. 24 May Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe, is awarded £600,000 in High Court damages against the satirical magazine Private Eye. A police raid on a suspected drugs operation at a public house in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, leads to a riot in which up to 500 people throw missiles and petrol bombs at police officers. 26 May – Arsenal F.C. win the First Division league title against Liverpool, with a goal from Michael Thomas in the last minute of the last game of the season. Arsenal have now won nine league titles, ending an 18 year wait to be crowned champions of England. Their win denied Liverpool of a domestic double. 30 May – Passport office staff in Liverpool begin an indefinite strike in protest against staffing levels.
June 13 June – The sixteenth James Bond film, Licence to Kill, premieres in London. 15 June – By-elections are held in Glasgow Central and Vauxhall, caused by the death of Labour MP Bob McTaggart on 23 March and the resignation of Labour MP Stuart Holland, respectively. Labour holds both seats. 19 June – Labour wins 45 of Britain's 78 European Parliament constituencies in the European elections, with the Conservatives gaining 32 seats. The Green Party of England and Wales gains 2,300,000 votes (15% of the vote) but fails to gain a single seat. This is the first national election won by the Labour Party since its last general election win 15 years ago. 22 June Police arrest 260 people celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge. London Underground workers stage their second one-day strike of the year. 24 June – A riot takes place in Dewsbury.
July 1 July – Fears of a property market downturn are heightened when it is reported that many homeowners looking to move are cutting the asking price of their homes by up to 20% in an attempt to speed up the sale of their property, following the property boom of the last 3 years where the price of many homes doubled at the very least. 2 July – An IRA bomb kills a British soldier in Hanover, West Germany. 10 July – House prices in the south of England have fallen for the second successive quarter, but are continuing to rise in Scotland as well as the north of England. 11 July Britain's dock workers go on strike in protest against the abolition of the Dock Labour Scheme. Actor Laurence Olivier, Lord Olivier, dies aged 82 at his home in Ashurst, West Sussex. 13 July – The fall in unemployment continues, with the tally now standing at slightly more than 1,800,000 – the lowest in nearly a decade. 17 July – 1,500 British tourists are delayed for up to eight hours by French air traffic control strikes. 19 July – The BBC programme Panorama accuses Shirley Porter, Conservative Leader of Westminster City Council, of gerrymandering. 20 July – Labour's lead in the opinion polls has increased substantially, with the latest MORI poll putting them nine points ahead of the Conservatives on 45%. 25 July – The Princess of Wales opens the Landmark Aids Centre, a day centre for people with AIDS, in London. 28 July – The industrial action by British Rail drivers is reported to be coming to an end as most of the train drivers have ended their overtime ban.
August