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Ministers have decided against establishing a public inquiry into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub explosions.

The Horrific Event

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one people were murdered and two hundred twenty hurt when bombs were set off at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub establishments in Birmingham, in an assault largely thought to have been carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

Judicial Fallout

No one has been found guilty over the attacks. In 1991, 6 men had their convictions overturned after enduring over 16 years in jail in what is considered one of the gravest failures of justice in United Kingdom history.

Relatives Fight for Justice

Loved ones have for decades campaigned for a open inquiry into the attacks to discover what the government was aware of at the time of the incident and why nobody has been prosecuted.

Official Decision

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on Thursday that while he had sincere compassion for the loved ones, the government had concluded “after careful deliberation” it would not commit to an probe.

Jarvis said the authorities thinks the newly established commission, created to examine fatalities related to the Northern Ireland conflict, could investigate the Birmingham incidents.

Activists Respond

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, stated the statement showed “the administration are indifferent”.

The sixty-two-year-old has long fought for a open probe and explained she and other grieving relatives had “no desire” of engaging in the commission.

“We see no genuine autonomy in the body,” she said, adding it was “tantamount to them assessing their own homework”.

Calls for Evidence Disclosure

Over the years, bereaved relatives have been calling for the publication of files from government bodies on the event – specifically on what the government was aware of before and following the incident, and what information there is that could bring about prosecutions.

“The entire UK government system is opposed to our relatives from ever discovering the truth,” she declared. “Only a legally mandated judge-led open investigation will grant us access to the papers they assert they do not possess.”

Legal Authority

A official open investigation has particular judicial capabilities, such as the authority to oblige witnesses to testify and provide information related to the inquiry.

Prior Inquest

An hearing in 2019 – fought for bereaved relatives – determined the those killed were illegally slain by the IRA but did not determine the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton said: “Government bodies informed the presiding official that they have absolutely no records or evidence on what is still the UK's most prolonged unsolved atrocity of the last century, but now they want to pressure us down the route of this Legacy Commission to disclose evidence that they state has not been present”.

Official Response

Liam Byrne, the MP for the local constituency, described the government’s decision as “profoundly disheartening”.

In a announcement on Twitter, Byrne said: “After such a long time, so much grief, and countless let-downs” the relatives are entitled to a procedure that is “independent, court-supervised, with comprehensive authorities and fearless in the pursuit for the truth.”

Enduring Pain

Discussing the family’s enduring grief, Hambleton, who heads the Justice 4 the 21, said: “Not a single family of any atrocity of any type will ever have peace. It is impossible. The suffering and the anguish remain.”