General Headlines of the century

The new century hits the calm on the United Kingdom and some issues occures during the start of the 2000s, we colect a brief selection of the most important situations that happens from 2000 to 2005 in the UK and impact in general the public opinion

Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency

Widespread British unease about the European single currency obliged Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was keen on the project, to stay out. The 'euro' was launched as an electronic currency used by banks, foreign exchange dealers, big firms and stock markets in 1999. Euro coins first hit the streets of the 12 'eurozone' countries on 1 January 2002.

Global stock markets tumble as the 'dotcom bubble' bursts

The late 1990s saw a profusion of start-up companies selling products or services either using or related to the internet. At this moment UK was a most influential State in the field of internet and technology, the boom of this bubble cause a great and short impact in the UK economy

                                          CNN special report on "dotcom bubble"
  
There was a speculative frenzy of investment in these 'dotcom' companies, much of it by small investors. The bursting of the 'dotcom bubble' saw the collapse of many of these companies and marked the beginning of a mild yet lengthy recession.

Foot-and-mouth disease wreaks havoc on rural Britain

In 2001 occurs the nine-month epidemic of 'foot-and-mouth' disease resulted in the culling of millions of animals and devastated large sections of the rural economy. The crisis brought the countryside to a virtual standstill and the cost to British farming was put between £800 million and £2.4 billion. The Labour government was heavily criticised for its handling of the crisis.

Labour wins the general election, with Tony Blair returned as prime minister

Tony Blair arriving with his wife in Downing street

Labour won a commanding majority of 167 seats in the elections of June of 2001. Prime Minister Tony Blair's second term came to be dominated by controversial foreign policy issues, mainly the 'war on terror' begun after the terror attacks in the United States on 11 September. The Conservative leader, William Hague, resigned after the party showed little sign of electoral recovery.

Britain joins the US in strikes on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan

At the ends of 2001, British forces contributed to the initial US military strikes against the Islamic fundamentalist Taleban regime in Afghanistan - the first retaliation to the terrorist attacks of '9/11'. 

The Taliban, who had allowed the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan as a base, was overthrown and replaced with a US-backed administration. Coalition forces, including British troops, remain in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader responsible for the '9/11' attacks, was not found.

Two years later, Britain joins the US in an invasion of Iraq, despite significant opposition at home, the British government gave military support to the controversial United States led invasion of Iraq. Crucially, the action was not backed by a United Nations mandate, sparking debate over the legality of the invasion. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was overthrown and captured. Iraq now has a democratically elected government, but the country remains deeply unstable as a result of the deliberate stoking of sectarian tensions by terrorist groups.

Kyoto Protocol on measures to control climate change comes into force

The agreement required countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 5.2% by 2012. The treaty was signed by 141 countries but the world's largest economy - and largest polluter - the United States, did not ratify it. Climate scientists argued that the 5.2% target was far too low, and a 60% cut was needed to make an impact on climate change caused by human activity.

Labour wins a third consecutive term with Tony Blair as prime minister

Labour won, but with a substantially reduced majority. Tony Blair joined Margaret Thatcher as the only post-war prime ministers to have won three successive general elections. Nonetheless, he quickly announced his intention not to stand for a fourth term, sparking ongoing speculation about when he would hand over to his annointed successor, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. Conservative leader Michael Howard resigned to make way for a younger leader.

Suicide bombers kill 52 people on London's transport system

Three men blew themselves up on London Underground trains, while a fourth exploded his bomb on a double-decker bus, during the summer of 2005, fifty two people were killed and more than 700 injured. On 21 July there were four more attempted suicide bombings in London, but none of the devices exploded. Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, but it is thought that the bombers, all British Muslims, acted alone.

                               London 7/7 attacks representation by BBC

INTERESTING LINKS:
Article of the uncertainty that causes the Euro in 2001: Article link
UK govern celebrates it leadership in climate change fight 13 years after Kyoto protocol: Article link