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Ministers have decided against launching a national investigation into the IRA's 1974-era Birmingham city pub attacks.

This Tragic Attack

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were murdered and two hundred twenty wounded when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town pub establishments in Birmingham, in an incident widely believed to have been orchestrated by the IRA.

Judicial Consequences

No one has been found guilty for the attacks. Back in 1991, 6 defendants had their convictions quashed after enduring over 16 years in jail in what remains one of the gravest failures of the legal system in British history.

Families Campaign for Answers

Relatives have for decades pushed for a open inquiry into the bombings to discover what the state was aware of at the moment of the tragedy and why no one has been brought to justice.

Official Response

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had deep empathy for the relatives, the government had determined “after careful deliberation” it would not establish an investigation.

Jarvis explained the administration considers the reconciliation commission, created to investigate deaths associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could investigate the Birmingham bombings.

Activists React

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was killed in the bombings, said the statement indicated “the administration show no concern”.

The sixty-two-year-old has for decades pushed for a public inquiry and stated she and other grieving relatives had “no intention” of taking part in the investigative panel.

“We see no real impartiality in the commission,” she stated, adding it was “tantamount to them marking their own performance”.

Requests for Document Release

For decades, grieving loved ones have been demanding the release of files from intelligence agencies on the attack – especially on what the authorities was aware of prior to and following the attack, and what proof there is that could bring about arrests.

“The entire British establishment is against our relatives from ever discovering the reality,” she stated. “Only a statutory judicial open probe will grant us access to the papers they state they lack.”

Legal Capabilities

A legally mandated public investigation has specific official authorities, encompassing the authority to compel individuals to appear and disclose evidence related to the inquiry.

Earlier Investigation

An hearing in 2019 – campaigned for bereaved relatives – determined the victims were unlawfully killed by the IRA but failed to identify the names of those responsible.

Hambleton said: “Intelligence agencies informed the coroner at the time that they have zero records or evidence on what continues to be England’s most prolonged open atrocity of the last century, but currently they want to force us down the route of this Legacy Commission to provide details that they assert has never existed”.

Political Reaction

Liam Byrne, the MP for the Birmingham area, described the cabinet's decision as “deeply, deeply disappointing”.

Through a statement on social media, Byrne said: “After such a long time, so much grief, and so many disappointments” the loved ones merit a process that is “independent, judge-led, with complete authorities and fearless in the pursuit for the facts.”

Enduring Sorrow

Speaking of the families' enduring pain, Hambleton, who chairs the campaign group, said: “No relative of any tragedy of any type will ever have peace. It is impossible. The grief and the sorrow persist.”