December 2004 in Britain and Ireland - 15 December 2004

15 December 2004

• UK Home Secretary David Blunkett resigns from his post in the wake of numerous controversies. He is replaced by Charles Clarke, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Ruth Kelly takes over from Clarke as Education Secretary and becomes the sixth woman in prime minister Tony Blair's Cabinet. Kelly is replaced as Cabinet Office minister by David Miliband.(Sky) (BBC)
• Cricket: The England and Wales Cricket Board announces new broadcasting deals with BSkyB, Five, the BBC and TalkSPORT. From 2006 to 2009, all England home test matches and One Day Internationals, plus domestic competition coverage will be televised on Sky Sports, with highlights on Five. Test Match Special survives, as the BBC retains exclusive rights for radio coverage to home internationals, and non-exclusive rights to domestic county games. TalkSPORT has won non-exclusive rights to radio coverage of Twenty20 games. The deals will earn English cricket £220m over 2006-9. (ECB)
• Rangers F.C. are knocked out of the UEFA Cup after losing 0-2 at home to Auxerre. (BBC)
• The captain of a Royal Navy warship has been relieved of his command and ordered to return to the UK after a complaint from a junior officer serving under him. Commander David Axon was ordered off HMS Somerset, a Type 23 frigate, while the vessel was in port in Gibraltar, on the way back to Britain from a tour of duty in the Gulf. (Gibraltar Chronicle)
• Jersey is to get a direct daily freight link to Cherbourg early next year that could revolutionise the way Islanders shop for major purchases. Jersey Evening Post