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Ministers have rejected the idea of launching a open probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.

This Devastating Incident

On 21 November 1974, twenty-one people were murdered and 220 hurt when bombs were exploded at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub venues in Birmingham, in an incident widely believed to have been carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

Legal Aftermath

No one has been found guilty over the attacks. In 1991, 6 defendants had their convictions reversed after serving over 16 years in jail in what is considered one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in British history.

Families Push for Justice

Loved ones have for decades fought for a national investigation into the bombings to find out what the government was aware of at the moment of the event and why nobody has been prosecuted.

Official Response

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, announced on recently that while he had profound compassion for the loved ones, the government had concluded “after careful review” it would not authorize an investigation.

Jarvis stated the government considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, established to examine deaths related to the Northern Ireland conflict, could examine the Birmingham attacks.

Activists Express Disappointment

Activist Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, said the announcement demonstrated “the administration don't care”.

The sixty-two-year-old has for years fought for a national inquiry and explained she and other grieving families had “no intention” of engaging in the commission.

“There is no real autonomy in the commission,” she remarked, adding it was “like them assessing their own homework”.

Demands for Document Disclosure

Over the years, bereaved relatives have been requesting the disclosure of papers from government bodies on the attack – especially on what the government was aware of prior to and after the incident, and what evidence there is that could result in prosecutions.

“The whole UK government system is opposed to our families from ever discovering the truth,” she said. “Only a legally mandated judge-directed public investigation will give us entry to the papers they state they lack.”

Official Powers

A legally mandated open inquiry has distinct official powers, encompassing the authority to require individuals to attend and disclose details related to the investigation.

Prior Inquest

An investigation in 2019 – campaigned for bereaved families – concluded the victims were unlawfully killed by the IRA but failed to identify the identities of those accountable.

Hambleton stated: “Intelligence agencies informed the then coroner that they have zero files or documentation on what is still England’s most prolonged unresolved atrocity of the 20th century, but now they aim to force us down the route of this Legacy Commission to provide details that they claim has never existed”.

Official Criticism

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, described the cabinet's announcement as “deeply, deeply disappointing”.

Through a message on social media, Byrne said: “After such a long time, so much suffering, and so many let-downs” the families deserve a process that is “independent, judicially directed, with comprehensive capabilities and courageous in the search for the truth.”

Enduring Grief

Speaking of the family’s enduring grief, Hambleton, who heads the Justice 4 the 21, remarked: “Not a single family of any tragedy of any sort will ever have closure. It is unattainable. The grief and the grief persist.”