Events from the year 1972 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Edward Heath (Conservative) Parliament – 45th
Events
January
4 January – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey. 9 January – The National Union of Mineworkers holds a strike ballot in which 58.8% vote in favour of industrial action. Coal miners begin a strike which will last for seven weeks, including picketing of Saltley coke depot in Birmingham. 19 January – The government announces the lifting of all restrictions on broadcasting hours on television and radio. Daytime television hours will be extended in October. 20 January – Unemployment exceeds the 1,000,000 mark for the first time since the 1930s, almost double the 582,000 who were unemployed when Edward Heath's Conservative government came to power less than two years ago. 30 January – 'Bloody Sunday' in Northern Ireland: fourteen Catholics are killed when troops open fire on unarmed demonstrators in Derry.
February
2 February – Burning of the British Embassy in Dublin: Anti-British riots take place throughout Ireland. The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Merrion Square, Dublin, is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses. In West Berlin, a bomb planted in sympathy with the Provisional IRA at the British Yacht Club explodes fatally. 3–13 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, but do not win any medals. 5 February – 91 people are hurt and 122 arrested as mounted police charge protestors in London. 9 February – A state of emergency is declared by the Prime Minister as a result of the miners' strike. 10 February – David Bowie introduces his Ziggy Stardust persona at the second show of the 1972–73 Ziggy Stardust Tour, at The Toby Jug pub, Tolworth, Surrey. 22 February – 1972 Aldershot bombing: An Official Irish Republican Army car bomb kills six people at Aldershot Barracks. 25 February – The miners' strike ends after seven weeks.
March
13 March – The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China elevate diplomatic exchanges to the ambassadorial level after 22 years. 21 March – Chancellor Anthony Barber announces a £1,200,000,000 tax reduction in the Budget. 24 March – The British government announces the prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the introduction of Direct rule over Northern Ireland, after the Unionist government refuses to cede security powers. 26 March – The UK's last trolleybus system, in Bradford, is closed. 30 March – The Troubles: The Parliament of Northern Ireland is suspended. 31 March – A CND demonstration is held protesting against the nuclear base at Aldermaston.
April
1 April – William Whitelaw is appointed as the first Northern Ireland Secretary. 6 April – As announced in March, Ford launches its new executive model, the Granada, available as a saloon, coupé or estate, which replaces the Zephyr on the UK market and will be produced at the Dagenham plant as well as Ford's Cologne plant in West Germany. It is designed to compete with the likes of the Rover P6 and Vauxhall Victor and will also be sold as the Ford Consul in mainland Europe. 11 April – The BBC Radio 4 parodic panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is broadcast for the first time. 19 April – A report into the Bloody Sunday shootings by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, exonerates the British troops of blame because the demonstration had been illegal. This report will be completely discredited by the Saville Inquiry published on 15 June 2010, on which day the British prime minister David Cameron will acknowledge in the House of Commons, among other things, that the paratroopers had fired the first shot, had fired on fleeing unarmed civilians, and shot and killed one man who was already wounded; he will then apologise on behalf of the British Government. 22 April – Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific. 30 April – The Brighton Belle Pullman car train makes its final journey from London to Brighton.