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Government officials have decided against launching a open inquiry into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city pub explosions.

The Horrific Event

Back on 21 November 1974, 21 civilians were lost their lives and 220 injured when bombs were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town pub venues in Birmingham, in an assault commonly accepted to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA.

Judicial Consequences

Not a single person has been found guilty over the attacks. In 1991, 6 men had their guilty verdicts quashed after serving more than 16 years in detention in what stands as one of the worst failures of justice in United Kingdom history.

Victims' Families Campaign for Justice

Loved ones have for decades campaigned for a public investigation into the attacks to uncover what the government was aware of at the moment of the event and why not a single person has been held accountable.

Official Statement

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, stated on recently that while he had sincere compassion for the families, the cabinet had concluded “after careful deliberation” it would not establish an inquiry.

Jarvis said the administration considers the newly established commission, created to investigate fatalities associated with the Troubles, could examine the Birmingham incidents.

Advocates React

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was killed in the attacks, stated the announcement indicated “the administration don't care”.

The 62-year-old has for decades pushed for a public inquiry and said she and other grieving relatives had “no plan” of engaging in the commission.

“There’s no real impartiality in the commission,” she said, explaining it was “like them marking their own homework”.

Demands for Document Disclosure

Over the years, grieving families have been requesting the release of papers from security services on the incident – specifically on what the government was aware of before and following the bombing, and what proof there is that could result in legal action.

“The whole UK government system is opposed to our relatives from ever learning the truth,” she stated. “Exclusively a statutory judge-led open investigation will provide us entry to the files they assert they lack.”

Legal Powers

A legally mandated public investigation has distinct legal powers, such as the ability to compel participants to testify and reveal evidence associated with the probe.

Prior Hearing

An investigation in 2019 – campaigned for grieving relatives – determined the those killed were illegally slain by the Provisional IRA but did not determine the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton said: “Intelligence agencies informed the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no documents or information on what continues to be England’s longest unresolved mass murder of the last century, but now they want to pressure us down the route of this new commission to share evidence that they assert has never been available”.

Official Response

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the Birmingham area, characterized the administration's ruling as “extremely unsatisfactory”.

Through a statement on social media, Byrne wrote: “After such a long time, such immense grief, and numerous disappointments” the families are entitled to a mechanism that is “impartial, judge-led, with full authorities and courageous in the quest for the facts.”

Enduring Sorrow

Discussing the family’s ongoing pain, Hambleton, who chairs the Justice 4 the 21, remarked: “Not a single family of any tragedy of any type will ever have peace. It is impossible. The grief and the grief remain.”