Talk:United Kingdom

Picture of Boris

Can you remove the picture of Boris Johnson from modern history? As there are already pics of the current PM. It would be nice to have something else there. ~2026-33619-46 (talk) 19:01, 6 June 2026 (UTC)—  Blocked sockpuppet of Lam312321321, see investigation. Belbury (talk) 10:19, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

That image illustrates Brexit (Johnson is signing the departure agreement). Which image from Commons would you choose for that instead? Or are you wanting to illustrate a different major event from the current century pertinent to the history of the United Kingdom? If so, which event and with which illustration? Bazza 7 (talk) 07:35, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

I think these pictures below:

Image one: caption ''The UK administered the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world, outside of clinical trials.''

Image two: caption: ''The largest protest in British history in opposition to the government led by Tony Blair took place in London'' ~2026-33475-81 (talk) 12:29, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

The first event is mentioned in the section text, but the image itself is just a generic one of some vaccines; is there one specifically illustrating the first vaccine being administered? The second is not mentioned in the section (nor should it be), and the claim you make is not clear-cut (although your actual wording is probably not what you meant).

Let's await a while to see what other contributors think. Bazza 7 (talk) 14:18, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

The second one is mentioned in the section. ~2026-33739-61 (talk) 14:28, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

& what about this image for image one? ~2026-33739-61 (talk) 14:35, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

Could be anywhere. Bazza 7 (talk) 16:51, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

It aptly illustrates one of the four events mentioned in that section, so I think, as it complies well with MOS:IMAGERELEVANCE, it should stay unless an even more pertinent image is put forward. -- DeFacto (talk). 14:42, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

But the suggestions I'm making are events in the section. ~2026-33739-61 (talk) 14:47, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

But neither of them are as obviously befitting. -- DeFacto (talk). 15:30, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

So far none are an improvement on the current image which shows the prime minister of the time formally committing the country to leave the European Union. You haven't yet found an image which is as illustrative of any of the other events than this.

(I could disregard WP:AGF and interpret your eagerness to swap the image for others of lesser relevance as a result of your opinion of the person depicted, but that would be rude of me.) Bazza 7 (talk) 16:55, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

The IPs are socks of block evading User:Lam312321321. Mutt Lunker (talk) 21:14, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 23 June 2026

Replace this line: When the EC became the European Union (EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states.

With: When the EC became the European Union (EU) in 1993, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states.

Reason: The Maastricht treaty establishing the EU was signed 7 Feb 1992, but it only went into force on 1 Nov 1993 after being ratified by all of the founding member states. Therefore the EC only became the EU on 1 Nov 1993 when the treaty went into force. Dannyjamescarter (talk) 01:45, 23 June 2026 (UTC)

 Done Destinyokhiria _{(talk / cont)} 02:35, 23 June 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 6 July 2026

Change this line: The modern system of universal publicly funded healthcare in the United Kingdom has its origins in the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1949 is the primary healthcare provider in the United Kingdom.

To this: The modern system of universal publicly funded healthcare in the United Kingdom has its origins in the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS), which began operating in 1948 as the primary healthcare provider.

Reason: Grammar fix, the current sentence is malformed ("...in 1949 is the primary healthcare provider..."). Year correction 1949→1948, sourced to The National Archives: the NHS began operating on 5 July 1948 (the "appointed day"). Wording changed from "creation of the NHS in 1949" to "establishment of the NHS, which began operating in 1948" because the NHS was created by separate acts across the UK (England and Wales: National Health Service Act 1946; Scotland: National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947; Northern Ireland: Health Services Act (Northern Ireland) 1948) but launched UK-wide in 1948, so "establishment" plus the 1948 operating date avoids tying creation to a single year. Also removed the redundant second mention of "United Kingdom" at the end of the sentence. Dannyjamescarter (talk) 15:59, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Quack! Mutt Lunker (talk) 16:20, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Mutt Lunker, I understand that the "Quack!" implies I'm a returning blocked user. I'm not. This is my only account, I have no connection to any blocked or banned editor, and I've built an ordinary editing history over my time here. I'd ask that the request be judged on its substance rather than on an assumption about who I am: it's a sourced correction (the NHS began operating on 5 July 1948, per The National Archives) and a fix to a grammatically broken sentence. If anyone genuinely believes otherwise about the account, the formal process exists for that. I've said my piece here and won't belabour it further. Dannyjamescarter (talk) 16:50, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

References

costal =coastal

Article locked so cannot change.~2026-32542-29 (talk) 03:35, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Fixed I verified that the reference it's in misspelled the name of the publisher. –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 03:51, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 12 July 2026

Instead of "country", The United Kingdom should be called a "sovereign state" because it is a political entity made up of multiple countries and represents multiple countries in the international stage. TheCountriesoftheWorld (talk) 02:14, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

 Not done pls see a discussion that links to many other discussions.Moxy🍁 02:31, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Government seat

@Bazza 7: Usually when the seat of government is different to the capital city, infoboxes show that (e.g. see Kingdom of the Netherlands). I considered adding a "government seat" field but thought that would be WP:UNDUE emphasis for a very recent change when most government work is still done from London, which is why I added a footnote instead. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 11:19, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure that's a solid analogy. The Netherlands presents an unusual problem, in that while the ordinarily meaning of "capital city" is "place from which an entity is governed", Amsterdam, the official capital, outright fails to be the capital in the ordinary sense of the term. It seems to me that the situation with Manchester is better compared to the United States, where (a) there's an official presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, where many presidents have held official meetings, (b) the current president treats his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as a secondary White House, and (c) the Department of Defense is in Arlington, Virginia. But the United States article makes no mention of either Camp David or Palm Beach, and mentions Arlington only in the caption under a photo of the Pentagon. Largoplazo (talk) 11:41, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

That's reasonable enough. Thanks for your thoughts. Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 12:54, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

@Chessrat: Thanks for starting this discussion.

As always, whatever is stated requires sourcing. So (last updated 2024) plainly states the capital of the UK is London. So does . So that's what should be in the article (of which the infobox is a summary). In the surprising absence of any referenced statement about the capital, I've added one in United Kingdom § Demographics (which location might seem odd but I couldn't figure anywhere else to put it). If someone finds reliable sources which state that London is usually the capital but Manchester takes over sometimes, then that can be added at the appropriate place.

If the government of the day chooses to work elsewhere on Fridays, then that might be appropriate for the United Kingdom § Government and politics, although I note that there is nothing about location in that section, which is probably as it should be; there is, though, at Government of the United Kingdom § Location so that may be the best place to add more sourced information to.

I'll also note that I'm not a fan of placing facts which should be in article text inside notes: they're fine for clarifying a word or phrase, but not for carrying information. The MOS obliquely implies that this might be an allowed use of notes, but my own opinion is that if it's worth saying, then say it in the text of the appropriate article. Bazza 7 (talk) 12:22, 24 July 2026 (UTC)