resignation of Stewart Stevenson. 13 December – Mark Weston, the first person to face a second murder trial in the United Kingdom following the abolition of the double jeopardy rule in England and Wales, is convicted of killing a woman in Oxfordshire in 1995. He is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 13 years. 15 December – Unemployment has risen to 2,500,000 since October; the first monthly rise in six months. 16 December – The Scottish Government rules out re-introducing tuition fees for Scottish university students, but students from other parts of the United Kingdom attending university in Scotland may face fees of £6,000. 17 December – The British government announces plans to make prisoners serving less than four years eligible to vote. 21 December The Business secretary, Vince Cable, loses power to rule on Rupert Murdoch's take-over of BSkyB after being recorded stating that he had "declared war" on Murdoch by undercover reporters from The Daily Telegraph. Police in Bristol become concerned about the whereabouts of a woman, Joanna Yeates, who has not been seen since the evening of 17 December. 23 December – Former MSP Tommy Sheridan is convicted of perjury following a twelve-week trial. 26 December – Avon and Somerset Police say they are "satisfied" that a body found on Christmas Day near the village of Failand, Somerset is that of missing Bristol woman Joanna Yeates, who disappeared on 17 December. 28 December – Police launch a murder investigation after a post mortem into the death of Joanna Yeates concludes that she had been strangled. 29 December – Greater Gabbard wind farm first generates electricity. Undated Broadcasting Tower, Leeds, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, opens. Sinfonia Newydd, arts company is founded in Cardiff. A breeding colony of the Eurasian spoonbill forms in north Norfolk, the first in Britain for 300 years. New car sales increase slightly to just over 2 million this year. The Ford Fiesta is Britain's best selling car for the second year running, while the Nissan Qashqai enjoys record sales for a model in the growing crossover market as Britain's tenth best selling car with nearly 40,000 sales. Publications Howard Jacobson's comic novel The Finkler Question. Jon McGregor's novel Even the Dogs''. Births 20 May – Lady Cosima Windsor, daughter of Earl and Claire, Countess of Ulster. 24 August – Florence Cameron, daughter of then-prime minister David Cameron 29 December