🔗 Share this article

Government officials have decided against launching a public probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.

The Tragic Attack

On 21 November 1974, 21 civilians were lost their lives and 220 injured when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an assault largely thought to have been carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

Legal Fallout

Not a single person has been found guilty for the attacks. Back in 1991, 6 men had their sentences overturned after enduring over 16 years in jail in what is considered one of the gravest failures of justice in UK history.

Victims' Families Push for Justice

Loved ones have long fought for a public probe into the explosions to discover what the state was aware of at the time of the event and why nobody has been held accountable.

Official Response

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had sincere compassion for the relatives, the cabinet had determined “after detailed consideration” it would not commit to an probe.

Jarvis said the authorities considers the reconciliation commission, set up to look into fatalities related to the Troubles, could investigate the Birmingham bombings.

Activists Respond

Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the bombings, stated the decision showed “the government don't care”.

The 62-year-old has for years campaigned for a national inquiry and explained she and other bereaved families had “no plan” of participating in the commission.

“There is no real independence in the commission,” she said, explaining it was “tantamount to them assessing their own performance”.

Demands for Evidence Release

For years, bereaved loved ones have been requesting the release of files from intelligence agencies on the event – specifically on what the government was aware of before and following the attack, and what information there is that could result in legal action.

“The entire British establishment is opposed to our relatives from ever discovering the facts,” she stated. “Exclusively a official judicial public probe will grant us entry to the documents they assert they do not possess.”

Official Powers

A legally mandated open inquiry has particular official capabilities, including the ability to require witnesses to attend and disclose details connected to the probe.

Previous Hearing

An hearing in 2019 – campaigned for grieving relatives – ruled the victims were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but did not determine the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton said: “Intelligence agencies advised the then coroner that they have no documents or evidence on what remains England’s longest open multiple killing of the last century, but at present they intend to push us to participate of this investigative body to disclose evidence that they state has not been present”.

Political Reaction

Liam Byrne, the MP for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, characterized the cabinet's ruling as “profoundly disheartening”.

Through a announcement on social media, Byrne stated: “After such a long period, so much pain, and countless disappointments” the loved ones deserve a mechanism that is “impartial, court-supervised, with full capabilities and unafraid in the quest for the reality.”

Enduring Grief

Discussing the families' enduring sorrow, Hambleton, who chairs the campaign group, remarked: “No relative of any atrocity of any type will ever have closure. It is impossible. The grief and the grief persist.”