🔗 Share this article

Ministers have decided against initiating a public inquiry into the Provisional IRA's 1974-era Birmingham city pub bombings.

This Devastating Event

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were murdered and 220 wounded when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town establishments in Birmingham, in an assault commonly accepted to have been carried out by the IRA.

Legal Aftermath

Nobody has been sentenced over the attacks. In 1991, 6 defendants had their guilty verdicts overturned after enduring over 16 years in jail in what remains one of the most severe failures of justice in British history.

Relatives Fight for Justice

Relatives have for years fought for a public probe into the bombings to discover what the state knew at the moment of the tragedy and why no one has been held accountable.

Official Response

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on recently that while he had sincere empathy for the families, the administration had determined “after thorough review” it would not authorize an probe.

Jarvis stated the administration believes the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to investigate fatalities connected to the Troubles, could examine the Birmingham attacks.

Campaigners Respond

Activist Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was lost her life in the attacks, commented the decision demonstrated “the government show no concern”.

The 62-year-old has for years campaigned for a national investigation and explained she and other bereaved families had “no intention” of engaging in the investigative panel.

“There’s no genuine independence in the body,” she remarked, explaining it was “tantamount to them grading their own homework”.

Demands for Document Release

For years, bereaved loved ones have been demanding the publication of files from security services on the incident – specifically on what the state knew prior to and after the attack, and what proof there is that could result in legal action.

“The entire UK government system is resisting our relatives from ever learning the reality,” she declared. “Only a statutory judge-led public probe will give us entry to the files they assert they lack.”

Legal Powers

A statutory public probe has distinct judicial powers, including the authority to require participants to appear and provide information related to the probe.

Previous Inquest

An hearing in 2019 – secured by grieving families – determined the victims were murdered by the IRA but did not determine the names of those accountable.

Hambleton stated: “The security services informed the presiding official that they have no documents or documentation on what continues to be England’s longest unresolved mass murder of the 20th century, but currently they intend to force us to participate of this new commission to disclose evidence that they assert has never been available”.

Political Response

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, described the government’s decision as “extremely disappointing”.

Through a announcement on social media, Byrne stated: “Following so much period, such immense suffering, and numerous disappointments” the relatives merit a mechanism that is “independent, judicially directed, with comprehensive powers and courageous in the quest for the facts.”

Enduring Sorrow

Speaking of the family’s ongoing sorrow, Hambleton, who heads the Justice 4 the 21, said: “No family of any tragedy of any kind will ever have peace. It is impossible. The grief and the sorrow persist.”