Drug related deaths soar, Hong Kong protests and Europe snatch Solheim Cup
● In part three of our review, Martin Mclaughlin looks back at the UK’S highest temperatures and the Supreme Court ruling against Boris Johnson
JULY
The opening of the £150 million Sick Kids hospital in Edinburgh is delayed at the last minute after problems are identified with a ventilation system.
Boris Johnson is voted in by Conservatives as their new leader, securing 92,153 votes to Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656. He promises to take Britain out of the EU on 31 October , with or without a deal.
A cross-party group of MPS mount a legal challenge in the Scottish courts to prevent a no deal Brexit.
The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland soars to 1,187, a 27 per cent year on year rise and the highest figure since records began in 1996.
East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson secures a landslide victory to become the first female leader of the Liberal Democrats.
The funeral takes place of Emma Faulds. The 39-yearold from Kilmarnock was found dead in the Galloway Forest. A man has been charged with her murder.
Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson is jailed for nine months for contempt of court.
An inquiry is launched after memos from Sir Kim Darroch, the UK ambassador to the US, are leaked. They detail the “dysfunctional” and “inept” Trump White House. Sir Kim later resigns.
Scotland rugby great and motor neurone disease campaigner Doddie Wear receives an OBE from the Queen.
Carl Beech, a former nurse who ruined the reputations of high-profile figures by lying to detectives about the existence of a murderous VIP paedophile ring, is jailed for 18 years.
The UK’S experiences its highest-ever temperature on record, after the Met Office confirms the mercury soared to 38.7C in Cambridge.
The first fatal collision involving an e-scooter in Britain occurs, killing TV presenter and Youtube star Emily Hartridge in Battersea, London.
Iran seizes a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, apparently in retaliation for the detention of one of its own tankers by British forces off Gibraltar.
Hundreds of protesters in Hong Kong launch an attack on the main parliament building, spray painting prodemocracy slogans and graffiti, and tearing down portraits of leaders.
Us-based businessman Ronald Gordon takes over Hibs in a deal which wipes out the club’s £3m mortgage debt.
Novak Djokovic rips up the record books after winning the longest men’s final in Wimbledon history by overcoming Roger Federer.
John Mccririck, the eccentric and garrulous horse racing pundit who became a household name, dies at the age of 79.
AUGUST
Tens of thousands of people hold demonstrations across Britain in protest against Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament.
Ruth Davidson quits as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, saying that “much had changed” both in politics and in her personal life.
A legal challenge aimed at stopping Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament is denied an interim block at the Court of Session.
The bill for Edinburgh’s delayed Royal Hospital for Children and Young People increases by £90m, auditors reveal.
Liberal Democrats candidate Beatrice Wishart holds off a challenge from the SNP’S Tom Wills to claim victory in the Shetland Holyrood byelection.
Exam statistics show the overall pass rate for Highers has fallen for the fourth year in a row, with 74.8 per cent of pupils achieving an A to C pass mark.
There is anger after it emerges Scots who suffer from cystic fibrosis will continue to be denied potentially life-extending drugs after they are rejected for use by the NHS in Scotland.
Fears that the UK is headed for recession intensify after new figures show the economy shrank for the first time since 2012.
The UK government announces an extra £2.1bn of funding to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, doubling the amount of money it has set aside for 2019, and taking the total since June 2016 to £6.3bn.
The Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, is nationalised by the Scottish Government amid an ongoing row over a £97m ferry contract.
Life expectancy improvements have stalled, according to a report from the National Records of Scotland.
Scotland’s Makar Jackie Kay warns that the nation’s attitude to race lags decades behind that of England.
It is announced that Edinburgh pupils are to be restricted to missing just one school day a year to protest against the climate crisis.
Jack Letts, a Muslim convert who joined the Islamic State group as a teenager, has his British citizenship revoked.
Richard Braine is elected as leader of the UK Independence Party, succeeding Gerard Batten.
Convicted paedophile and US financier Jeffrey Epstein is found dead in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
A total of 32 people are killed in the space of 24 hours after two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
Thousands of fires ravage the Amazon rainforest in Brazil – the most intense blazes for almost a decade.
Celtic’s Kieran Tierney signs for Arsenal in a £25m move, making him the most expensive Scottish football player ever.
Toni Morrison, the first African-american woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, dies at the age of 88.
SEPTEMBER
Conservative rebels and opposition MPS defeat Boris Johnson’s government by 328 votes to 301 in the first stage of their attempt to pass a law designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson’s brother, Jo, quits as an MP, saying is “torn between family loyalty and the national interest.”
The prime minister also comes under mounting pressure over his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, who allegedly received favourable treatment, including grants and access to business trips, while he was serving as Mayor of London.
There are angry scenes in the Commons as parliament is suspended, sparking further widespread protests.
But judges in the Court of Session go on to rule that the shutdown of parliament was
“unlawful,” a decision which is also ratified by the Supreme Court.
Riot police are deployed to the Govan area of Glasgow after an Irish Republican procession is met by a group of Loyalist counter-demonstrators.
Health secretary Jeane Freeman confirms the opening of the troubled Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh has been put back by a year.
Donald Trump’s luxury Sikorsky helicopter charter business fails to take off in Scotland, with the aircraft exported back to the US.
The UK’S biggest ever peacetime repatriation programme kicks into force after the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook.
The Scottish Government jettisons its widely criticised named person scheme–on the same day it ditches its commitment to ban landfill waste by the end of 2021.
Nursing and midwifery vacancies top the 4,000 mark for the first time, sparking claims of a staffing crisis in Scotland’s NHS.
Richard Selley, a former teacher from Perthshire who campaigned for the legalisation of euthaniasia, dies at a Swiss clinic. He had been suffering from motor neurone disease.
Two scientific teams announce their independent discovery of water – the foundation of biology as we know it – in the atmosphere of a transiting planet, catchily dubbed K2-18 b.
Millions of people around the world take part in a global climate strike, inspired by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Donald Trump approves deployment of several hundred US troops and military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following an attack on Saudi oil refineries.
Europe secures the Solheim Cup after a thrilling victory over the United States, winning 14.5 to 13.5 in a dramatic final day at Gleneagles
Brian Barnes, the flamboyant golfer who twice defeated Jack Nicklaus in a single day during the 1975 Ryder Cup, and marked his ball using a can of beer, dies aged 74.
Don’t miss Part 4 in tomorrow’s Scotsman