1 December The British Armed Forces announces that it will now allow those with HIV and taking antiretroviral to serve, with those diagnosed to be allowed without restrictions from spring 2022, ending a barrier for such individuals. Medications will also be freely available for such patients.
2 December. COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom: The government orders 114 million more doses, 60 million of the Moderna vaccine and 54 million of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, to use in 2022 and 2023.
3 December Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes are jailed over the torture and killing of Hughes' six-year-old son, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. Hughes, found guilty of his manslaughter, is jailed for 21 years. His partner Tustin, found guilty of murdering the boy, receives a minimum of 29 years.
COVID-19 in the UK: The number of confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK exceeds 100. The Health Security Agency publishes a risk assessment of the new variant.
4 December – The Attorney-General announces a review of the sentences given to Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes to "determine whether they were too low".
5 December – Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng visits North East England where thousands of homes remain without power, more than a week after Storm Arwen. The Army and Royal Marines continue to deliver supplies to affected residents, as power firms work to repair the last outages.
6 December – COVID-19 in the UK: Sajid Javid confirms that community transmission of the Omicron variant, i.e. not linked to international travel, is occurring across multiple regions.[409]
7 December – Severe weather warnings are issued for most of the UK as Storm Barra makes landfall.[410]
8 DecemberCOVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom: The booster jab program opens to over-40s, meaning an extra seven million people can get a third vaccine dose.[411]
Former Downing Street Press Secretary Allegra Stratton resigns as government spokesperson for COP26, after footage emerges of her and colleagues during a mock press conference on 22 December 2020, making joking references to an alleged Christmas gathering in 10 Downing Street four days earlier. Boris Johnson apologises for the video in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions, with opposition parties criticising him.[412] An investigation is launched by Simon Case.[413]
COVID-19 in the UK: "Plan B" is announced by Johnson, which introduces further restrictions on social gatherings. This includes a requirement to work from home wherever possible, the use of face coverings extended to include more venues, and the NHS Covid Pass or a negative lateral flow test for entry to crowded events (subject to parliamentary approval).[414]
9 DecemberThe Conservative Party is fined £17,800 by the Electoral Commission after failing to accurately report a donation that paid for Johnson's flat refurbishment, and for failing to keep a proper accounting record.[415][416]
The official investigation into government staff parties, alleged to have taken place during lockdown in late 2020, is widened to include a total of three events. Labour calls for Johnson to resign if he is found to have misled Parliament on the issue.[417]
Longannet power station, the last remaining coal-fired power station in Scotland, is demolished.[418]
10 DecemberThe High Court rules that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited from the UK to the US.[419]
COVID-19 in the UK: The daily infection number reaches the highest level since January, at 58,194.[420]
12 DecemberThe Daily Mirror publishes a leaked photo of Johnson at a virtual Christmas quiz in Downing Street on 15 December 2020, sat in-person with two colleagues, when London was under COVID-19 lockdown rules that banned household mixing.[421][422]
COVID-19 in the UK: The COVID alert level is increased to four, meaning transmission is "high or rising exponentially", due to a rapid increase in Omicron cases.[423] An additional 1,239 Omicron cases are reported, marking the biggest daily rise to date and bringing the total confirmed number in the UK to 3,137.[424]
COVID-19 in the UK: In a televised address, Johnson warns of "a tidal wave of Omicron coming" as he brings forward a target to give all over-18s a booster jab by one month to the end of December. This will mean the booster jab rollout needing to increase to a million a day, he explains, nearly doubling the current 530,000 daily figure.[425]
13 DecemberCOVID-19 in the UK: The first UK death from the Omicron variant is reported.[426]
COVID-19 in the UK: Shortages of lateral flow tests are reported.[427]
14 December – COVID-19 in the UK: Passes for entry to large venues like nightclubs in England win the backing of MPs by 369 votes to 126, despite a rebellion by Conservative backbenchers.[428]
15 DecemberInflation reaches 5.1%, up from 4.2% the previous month and its highest level in 10 years.[429]
A leaked photo emerges of former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and 23 colleagues holding a Christmas party at the Conservative headquarters in London, during the COVID-19 restrictions of December 2020.[430][431]
COVID-19 in the UK: The UK records its highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began, at 78,610.[432]
16 DecemberThe Bank of England raises interest rates for the first time in more than three years, from 0.1% to 0.25%, in response to surging inflation.[433]
2021 North Shropshire by-election: Liberal Democrats candidate Helen Morgan wins the seat vacated by Owen Paterson.[434] The swing of 34.16% is the seventh largest in UK by-election history and the seat had been held by Conservatives since 1906.[435]
17 December – Simon Case recuses himself from his role of leading an inquiry into alleged government staff parties during lockdown, after it is reported that a similar event was also held in his own office.[436]
18 DecemberCOVID-19 in the UK: London Mayor Sadiq Khan declares a major incident in the capital, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.[437]
David Frost resigns as Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, citing "concerns about the current direction of travel" of the government.[438]
19 DecemberPiers Corbyn is arrested by the Met Police after a video emerges of him urging people to "hammer to death those scum, those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism", as well as suggesting that the offices of MPs who had voted for COVID-19 restrictions should be burned down.[439]
The Guardian publishes a photo of Boris Johnson, his wife, and 17 staff members in the Downing Street garden with cheese and wine in May 2020, at a time when large social gatherings were prohibited due to COVID-19. Johnson's spokesman tells the newspaper that the photo shows a work meeting, not a social event.[440][441]
20 DecemberHornsea Two Wind Farm, the world's largest offshore array, is reported to be generating power for the first time.[442]
Lubov Chernukhin, wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, a former Russian Finance Minister, donates £66,500 to the Conservative Party.[74]
22 DecemberCOVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 106,122 new infections is reported, the first time the daily case number has exceeded 100,000.[443]
COVID-19 in the UK: Preliminary studies of the Omicron variant suggest that it could be milder than Delta, with a 30% to 70% reduction in those needing hospital treatment; however, the increased transmissibility may still overwhelm hospitals, through the sheer number of cases.[444]
23 December – COVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 119,789 new infections is reported.[445]
28 December – COVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 129,471 new infections is reported.[446]
30 DecemberCOVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 189,213 new infections is reported, which includes a five-day Christmas backlog for Northern Ireland, and a two-day backlog for Wales.[447]
A 16-year-old boy dies after being stabbed in Hillingdon, West London, making him the 30th teenage homicide in the capital during 2021, surpassing the previous record high of 29 in 2008.[448]
31 DecemberCOVID-19 in the UK: Paxlovid is approved by the UK medicines regulator, becoming the second new antiviral pill for Covid in the UK after molnupiravir.[449][450]
COVID-19 in the UK: Another record high of 189,846 new infections is reported, as the seven day cumulative total exceeds 1 million.[451]
COVID-19 in the UK: Many public New Year's Eve celebrations are cancelled, including Hogmanay in Scotland, due to the prevalence of COVID-19.[452]
The warmest New Year's Eve on record is reported, with temperatures of 15.8 °C (60.4 °F) in western England.[453]
The newly-restored clock face of Big Ben is revealed in time for the new year, following a renovation that began in 2017
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