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

This Devastating Event

On 21 November 1974, twenty-one people were killed and two hundred twenty wounded when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub venues in Birmingham, in an assault widely believed to have been planned by the IRA.

Legal Aftermath

Not a single person has been convicted for the incidents. In 1991, 6 individuals had their sentences reversed after spending more than 16 years in prison in what remains one of the most severe errors of the legal system in United Kingdom history.

Families Push for Justice

Families have for years pushed for a public inquiry into the bombings to find out what the authorities was aware of at the time of the incident and why nobody has been prosecuted.

Government Statement

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on recently that while he had profound compassion for the loved ones, the government had decided “after thorough deliberation” it would not establish an probe.

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

Campaigners React

Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was murdered in the explosions, commented the announcement showed “the authorities show no concern”.

The sixty-two-year-old has long campaigned for a public inquiry and stated she and other grieving families had “no intention” of taking part in the commission.

“We see no real independence in the body,” she stated, explaining it was “equivalent to them assessing their own homework”.

Demands for Evidence Release

For years, bereaved loved ones have been requesting the publication of documents from security services on the attack – specifically on what the government knew before and following the bombing, and what information there is that could lead to legal action.

“The entire UK government system is against our families from ever knowing the reality,” she said. “Solely a official judge-directed public investigation will give us entry to the papers they claim they do not possess.”

Official Authority

A statutory open investigation has specific official authorities, including the authority to oblige witnesses to attend and disclose evidence related to the probe.

Earlier Inquest

An investigation in 2019 – fought for bereaved relatives – ruled the victims were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the names of those culpable.

Hambleton stated: “Government bodies informed the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no records or evidence on what continues to be England’s most prolonged open atrocity of the 20th century, but now they want to pressure us to participate of this Legacy Commission to provide details that they state has never existed”.

Political Criticism

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, characterized the cabinet's ruling as “deeply, deeply disheartening”.

Through a statement on Twitter, Byrne stated: “After such a long time, such immense grief, and numerous failures” the loved ones are entitled to a mechanism that is “autonomous, court-supervised, with comprehensive authorities and courageous in the search for the truth.”

Ongoing Pain

Discussing the families' enduring pain, Hambleton, who chairs the advocacy organization, stated: “No relative of any horror of any type will ever have closure. It is unattainable. The pain and the grief continue.”