November 2022 in United Kingdom, Politics and Government

 

1 November 

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock is suspended from the Conservative Party after joining the cast of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He will now sit as an independent MP.

3 November

The Bank of England raises interest rates by 0.75 percentage points to 3%, the biggest hike since 1989, and forecasts a recession until 2024.
After a year's delay, the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup begins in England.

4 November

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris indefinitely postpones plans for a snap Northern Ireland Assembly election.
COVID-19 in the UK: The latest Office for National Statistics data indicates there were 1.9 million COVID-19 cases in the week up to 24 October, with around one in 35 people having the virus. Cases in England and Wales fell from the previous week, while there was a slight rise in Northern Ireland, with figures uncertain for Scotland.

7 November

Multiple junctions of the M25 are closed as Just Stop Oil stage their latest protests.
The world's first clinical trial of laboratory grown red blood cells transfused into people begins at the University of Bristol.

8 November

Sir Gavin Williamson resigns as Minister of State without Portfolio after allegations of bullying were made against him.

11 November

ONS figures show that the UK economy shrank by 0.2% in the three months to September.
COVID-19 in the UK: The latest Office for National Statistics data indicates a general fall in the number of cases of COVID-19 in the UK, with 1.5 million people testing positive for the virus in the week up to 1 November. This represents an 18% fall on the previous week, and appears to indicate the latest wave of cases is receding.

14 November 

The UK agrees a revised deal with France to try to reduce the number of migrants and asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats. UK police officers will work with French authorities in control rooms and on beaches, with officer numbers patrolling the French coast increasing from 200 to 300; the UK will pay France £63m this year, up from £55m last year.

16 November

Inflation reaches 11.1% for October, up from 10.1% the previous month. Food price inflation is even higher, rising from 14.6% to 16.4%, its highest level since 1977.
The Civil Aviation Authority grants an operating licence to Spaceport Cornwall, enabling the first satellite launches from the UK.

17 November 

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, delivers his autumn statement to the House of Commons.18 November – COVID-19 in the UK: Data released by the Office for National Statistics for the week up to 8 November indicate 1.1 million people tested positive for COVID-19, a 27% fall from 1.5 million the previous week. In England the number of cases is shown as being under a million for the first time since September.

19 November 

Gareth Swarbrick, CEO of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, is sacked with immediate effect, following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in a mould-ridden flat.

21 November 

England and Wales play their first matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the latter having qualified for the first time in 64 years.

23 November

The Supreme Court rules that the Scottish Government cannot hold a second Scottish independence referendum without the UK government's consent.
More than 100 people are arrested in the UK's biggest ever fraud operation, centred around the 'iSpoof' website, which targeted over 200,000 potential victims and pretended to be a bank.

24 November

Net migration into the UK hits an all-time high of 504,000 in the year to June, partly driven by the conflict in Ukraine, those fleeing persecution in Hong Kong, and the resettlement of Afghan refugees.
A ten-fold increase in hospitalisation from influenza is reported, compared to the same period a year previously. NHS bosses urge the public to get the latest vaccines for both flu and COVID-19.

25 November

The Royal College of Nursing announces that nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will stage their biggest strike in NHS history, in a dispute over pay, on 15 and 20 December.
Sadiq Khan announces a plan to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone to cover the whole of Greater London from August 2023.

26 November

The latest in a long-running series of train strikes is held across the UK, with train drivers at 11 companies walking out in a dispute over pay.
An independent review into the London Fire Brigade finds an "institutionally misogynist and racist" culture within the organisation.

29 November

The proportion of people in England and Wales describing themselves as Christian falls below half for the first time, according to data released from the ONS.
600,000 of the approximately 1.3 million free range turkeys in the UK are reported to have died or been culled, due to bird flu.