Yearbook 2012
UK. The issue of Britain's relations with the EU created
tensions within the government coalition between the
Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. Prime Minister
David Cameron's veto of EU plans for a fiscal pact at the
end of 2011 and increasingly loud opposition to EU
membership from parts of the Conservative Party fueled
speculation that Britain was about to leave the Union. As a
remission of the EU-critical faction within his party,
Cameron suggested that a referendum on the EU might be held
in 2015. A review would also be made of whether the British
could regain some of the EU's powers. The government also
pushed for a freeze on appropriations for the EU's long-term
budget for 2014-21. Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and
leader of the EU-friendly Liberal Democrats,
 According
to countryaah, the local elections held around the UK on May 3 became a
setback for the ruling parties, and especially the Liberal
Democrats. In England and Wales, Labor performed strongly,
while the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) had great success
in Scotland. Great attention was paid to the mayor's
election in London, where Conservative Party Boris Johnson
managed to defeat Labor's Living Living by a small margin.
In the elections to the GLA municipal assembly, however,
Labor won a clear majority.
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II was celebrated for 60 years
on the throne. It culminated with a series of events in
London in early June. All Brits got an extra holiday in
connection with the diamond anniversary.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that WikiLeak's founder
Julian Assange would be extradited to Sweden, where he was
suspected of sexual abuse. However, Assange, who was free
from bail, departed and took refuge in the Ecuador Embassy
in London where he sought political asylum on the grounds
that he feared that Sweden would extradite him to the United
States. However, he remained at the embassy guarded by
police. Outside the embassy building, many of Assange's
supporters gathered to mark his support for him. On August
16, Assange was granted political asylum in Ecuador, but he
was still unable to leave the embassy.
From July 27 to August 12, London hosted the Olympic
Games. The host country won 29 gold medals and finished
third in the medal league, after the USA and China. London
Mayor Boris Johnson kept a high profile during the Olympics.
His high popularity figures fueled speculation that he was
aiming to take over Cameron's party leadership post.
In October, Prime Minister Cameron and Scotland's Prime
Minister Alex Salmond agreed that a referendum on Scottish
independence would be held in 2014. Salmond and his party
SNP had wanted voters to take a stand for another option -
on increased self-government for Scotland. According to
opinion polls, just over one-third of Scots were fully
independent, while a majority wanted the Scottish Board to
have greater powers. Cameron and the government, which
opposed Scottish independence, had wanted an earlier
election date because they thought it would benefit their
cause.
Media issues received a lot of attention during the year.
This was very much the case with the investigation of print
media conducted by Judge Brian Leveson on behalf of Prime
Minister Cameron. The investigation began after revelations
that the Sunday newspaper News of the World, owned by Rupert
Murdoch's media group News Corporation, had hacked into
computers and cell phones belonging to murder victims,
relatives of soldiers who had fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan
and a large number of celebrities. There were also
suspicions that several senior politicians were affected.
Other newspapers such as The Sun and The Mirror were also
suspected of illegally intercepting phones. Newspapers were
also suspected of having bought information from police and
others.
Among those heard by Judge Leveson in the spring were
David Cameron and two of his representatives as Prime
Minister, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, as well as Rupert
Murdoch and his son James. For Cameron, the issue was
sensitive because his former communications manager Andy
Coulson and his friend Rebekah Brooks both held leading
positions in Murdoch's tabloid newspapers during the
interception. Great attention was paid to SMS correspondence
between Cameron and Brooks in 2009, when The Sun magazine,
also owned by the Murdoch Group, switched to supporting the
Conservative party instead of Labor. Prosecutions were filed
in the spring against, among others, Coulson, Brooks, her
husband Charles Brooks and several employees within the
Murdoch Group.
When Leveson presented his final report in November, he
sharply criticized the press for all ethical violations. He
also felt that too close ties existed between parts of the
press and leading politicians from all the major parties. He
suggested that a new press-ethical system be legislated.
Both the Conservative Party and the press opposed
legislation. Both Labor and the Liberal Democrats advocated
implementing Leveson's proposal in its entirety. The latter
was considered to upset the contradictions within the
government.
Several police investigations were ongoing at the same
time. According to the police, perhaps over a thousand
people, possibly even more, had their phones hacked.
The BBC's media company also happened in blustery weather
when it was revealed in the autumn that Jimmy Savile, an
entertainment profile with a 40-year TV career, was
suspected of exploiting his position and sexually assaulting
hundreds of children. However, Savile, who was honored in
1990 for his charity work, had died in November 2011. BBC
executives were now accused of stopping a program on
suspicion against Savile for instead broadcasting a program
in which he was praised. The question was whether other
people in the BBC knew of Savile's abuse, and if they did,
why they had not intervened. Later in the fall, another
program was broadcast in which a conservative politician was
incorrectly identified as a pedophile. This led to the
resignation of the BBC's Director General George Entwistle
in November.
The European Court of Justice ruled in April that five
people, including Egyptian-born Islamic preacher Sheikh Abu
Hamza, could be deported to the United States for trial of
terrorist offenses. Abu Hamza, who, among other things, was
charged with having been involved in organizing a terrorist
camp in Oregon, appealed the decision, but was denied. All
five flew to the United States in October.
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