A New Year, A New You?

January is know for many things in the West, including New Year's resolutions. This tradition sees us attempt to recreate ourselves into better versions of ourselves, a new year bringing about a newer, shinier version of you. In the world of politics it is also time for people to look forward and discuss what is going to happen in the coming year.

In the United Kingdom we see the Queen's Christmas speech as a time when we learn what her government will do in the coming year while in the United States we have the annual State of the Union Address.

This past Christmas marked the sixtieth anniversary of HRH Queen Elizabeth II's first televised Christmas address. Much has happened to Britain since, here are our top 10 changes from 1957-2017.

1. The invention of the printing press (just kidding!)

Here is the real list:

  1. The arrival of Empire Windrush and the first wave of Commonwealth migration - it changed Britain forever and made us a more diverse, more welcoming, more understanding place.
  2. The legalisation of homosexuality in 1967 - no longer was it illegal for two men to love one another and no more would go to prison for this in England, Scotland or Wales
  3. The development of the Open University in 1969 - it enabled thousands of people, regardless of their previous education or qualifications to access knowledge previously only open to the privileged and wealthy.
  4. 2010 Equality Act - gathered together legislation from different ares and identified nine characteristics of individual identity that are now protected by law.
  5. Comprehensive education - really this started in the 1950s and carried on; it offered equality in education to all, regardless of class, gender or geography.
  6. 1987 General Election - first BAME MPs elected to the House of Commons
  7. 1959 Murder Act - put a moratorium on capital punishment in the UK; it was meant to last for ten years and be voted on again, bit in 1965 the Houses of Parliament voted to permanently end capital punishment.
  8. The 1967 Abortion Act - it allowed women, with the consent of two doctors, to have an abortion; this enabled women to have better control over their reproductive rights in the UK.
  9. 2004 Civil Partnerships - while not the marriage equality that would come later, civil partnerships were a stepping stone to greater equality in marriage regardless of sexual orientation.
  10. 1973 Britain joins the European Economic Community - after a decade of attempting to join the common market as a way to improve Britain's terminally weakened economy, Britain at last joined the EEC on 1 January 1973. 


And in case you want to see the Queen's speech here it is:


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