The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe.
Questions tagged [united-kingdom]
184 questions
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Is Queen Elizabeth queuing for a sandwich in this photo?
Found it floating around Facebook with comments praising the queen for behaving like ordinary people.
Did the Queen Elizabeth actually queue for a sandwich in this photo? Or something else is happening?

Ulkoma
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Is the "Dutch reach" standard practice in the Netherlands?
The United Kingdom is introducing a new traffic rule. According to this BBC article,
A method known as the "Dutch reach" is to be introduced to the Highway Code in the UK after years of campaigning.
The practice is used widely across Europe and…

Glorfindel
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Are 700 more planes a day expected to fly because of the Heathrow expansion?
Some people are protesting a proposed expansion of London Heathrow. I saw some protestors of the Heathrow expansion with signs that read "Stop 700 more planes a day".
Greenpeace tells me "A third runway would mean 700 extra planes
a day using…
user49887
38
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3 answers
Did Putin threaten to have traitors assassinated?
In the recent U.N. Security Council meeting, U.K. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Allen quoted Putin by the following words (YouTube link, the relevant part starts at 1:07:30):
Traitors will kick the bucket, believe me. Those other…

DK2AX
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Are exams getting easier, or are students getting smarter?
There is an interesting trend in test scores in exams (GCSE and A-level) in the UK: they are increasing, or so the trend in the grades would tend to show. This is known as grade inflation and affects other countries, too.
Why is this? I have heard…

Thomas O
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Is refusing to decrypt data for the police illegal in England and Wales?
I've been recently downloading PuTTY from the official page and I have noticed a message stating:
LEGAL WARNING: Use of PuTTY, PSCP, PSFTP and Plink is illegal in countries where encryption is outlawed. I believe it is legal to use PuTTY, PSCP,…

MMM
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Did a 'Black History Month website' call white people ‘genetically defective descendants of albino mutants’?
Telegraph.co.uk reports that 'A Black History Month website' has made claims such as :
[white people are the] genetically defective descendants of albino mutants
[white man can] “fantasise that he is genetically equal to the black…

pinegulf
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Did "the UK court system abduct and murder a baby" with mitochondrial depletion syndrome?
According to a blog post by the Mises Institute:
...the court system in the United Kingdom, at the behest of National Health Service bureaucrats, abducted and murdered an 8-month-old baby...
...the courts in the UK ruled that Charlie Gard, against…

Jayson Virissimo
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Did UK hospital tell the police that a patient was not raped because the alleged attacker was transgender?
The Daily Telegraph wrote in 2022 (archive.is link):
Hospital told police patient was not raped because alleged attacker was transgender
...
Lady Nicholson said that the case had arisen as a direct result of the NHS policy – known as Annex B -…

pinegulf
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Has Boris Johnson ever referred to any of his opponents as "traitors"?
Yesterday Paula Sherriff said (quote from Hansard, emphasis mine):
We stand here, Mr Speaker, under the shield of our departed friend. Many of us in this place are subject to death threats and abuse every single day. Let me tell the Prime Minister…

Mark Amery
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Does Queen Elizabeth II own 6,600 million acres of land?
According to WhoOwnsTheWorld.com, Queen Elizabeth II owns 6,600 million acres. They claim,
Largest five personal landowners on Earth
Queen Elizabeth II 6,600 million acres
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia 553 million acres
King…

Evan Carroll
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Was Facebook cited as a reason for a third of UK divorces in 2010 in which unreasonable behaviour was a factor?
According to the Daily Mail:
Facebook is becoming a major factor in marriage breakdowns and is
increasingly being used as a source of evidence in divorce cases,
according to lawyers.
The social networking site was cited as a reason for a third…

JonathanReez
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Were over 3000 persons arrested in Britain for social media posts in 2018?
In 2019, John Anderson interviewed Konstantin Kisin. The discussion is transcribed by me. I is the interviewer and K is for Konstantin.
K: In Russia last year 400 people were arrested for things that they posted on social media. Obviously this…

pinegulf
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In 1936, did brothers Mark and David Ferrow transition?
The story of transgender brothers Mark and David Ferrow has become popular on Tumblr and Twitter in recent weeks. It claims
In 1934-1936, trans brothers Mark and David Ferrow of Yarmouth, UK both transitioned at age 13 with full parental…

KitKatKit
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Did Bercow say he would have sent the EU extension-request letter himself, had Johnson not done so?
The Express claims:
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow said if Mr Johnson will not send the letter to the EU to request a delay, he would.
Did Bercow actually say this?

Fizz
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