🔗 Share this article Officials Rule Out Public Inquiry into Birmingham Bar Bombings Ministers have ruled out establishing a open investigation into the Provisional IRA's 1974-era Birmingham pub attacks. The Devastating Event On 21 November 1974, twenty-one people were murdered and 220 hurt when explosive devices were exploded at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town establishments in Birmingham, in an attack commonly accepted to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA. Legal Aftermath No one has been found guilty over the attacks. In 1991, 6 individuals had their sentences quashed after spending over 16 years in jail in what remains one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK history. Families Fight for Answers Loved ones have for years campaigned for a public investigation into the attacks to find out what the state knew at the moment of the incident and why no one has been brought to justice. Official Response The security minister, Dan Jarvis, stated on recently that while he had sincere sympathy for the families, the administration had determined “after careful review” it would not commit to an probe. Jarvis said the government believes the reconciliation commission, established to look into deaths related to the Troubles, could investigate the Birmingham incidents. Advocates Express Disappointment Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was murdered in the attacks, commented the decision demonstrated “the government don't care”. The 62-year-old has long campaigned for a open inquiry and stated she and other bereaved families had “no desire” of participating in the commission. “There is no genuine autonomy in the body,” she stated, noting it was “like them assessing their own homework”. Requests for Evidence Disclosure Over the years, bereaved families have been requesting the release of documents from security services on the event – specifically on what the state knew before and after the bombing, and what information there is that could result in arrests. “The whole state apparatus is against our families from ever discovering the facts,” she stated. “Exclusively a official judicial public investigation will grant us entry to the documents they state they lack.” Official Powers A statutory national probe has specific official authorities, encompassing the ability to oblige witnesses to attend and provide evidence related to the inquiry. Prior Hearing An inquest in 2019 – secured by bereaved relatives – determined the those killed were illegally slain by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the identities of those culpable. Hambleton stated: “Intelligence agencies advised the presiding official that they have absolutely no records or information on what remains England’s most prolonged unresolved atrocity of the last century, but currently they aim to pressure us to engage of this investigative body to share evidence that they assert has never been available”. Official Criticism Liam Byrne, the MP for the Birmingham area, labeled the government’s decision as “deeply, deeply disheartening”. In a announcement on Twitter, Byrne said: “Following so much period, such immense suffering, and countless let-downs” the loved ones deserve a procedure that is “impartial, judicially directed, with complete authorities and unafraid in the pursuit for the reality.” Ongoing Sorrow Reflecting on the family’s persistent pain, Hambleton, who leads the advocacy organization, remarked: “No family of any horror of any sort will ever have peace. It is unattainable. The pain and the anguish continue.”