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Government officials have decided against establishing a public probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974-era Birmingham city bar attacks.

This Devastating Attack

On 21 November 1974, 21 civilians were lost their lives and 220 injured when explosive devices were exploded at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an assault largely thought to have been planned by the Provisional IRA.

Legal Fallout

No one has been convicted for the attacks. In 1991, 6 defendants had their convictions quashed after spending more than 16 years in detention in what remains one of the worst failures of the legal system in British history.

Families Fight for Justice

Relatives have for years pushed for a national probe into the explosions to uncover what the state was aware of at the moment of the tragedy and why not a single person has been prosecuted.

Official Response

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on recently that while he had sincere compassion for the loved ones, the government had concluded “after detailed review” it would not commit to an investigation.

Jarvis said the government thinks the reconciliation commission, set up to examine deaths associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could examine the Birmingham bombings.

Campaigners React

Activist Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, said the statement indicated “the authorities don't care”.

The 62-year-old has long fought for a public inquiry and explained she and other grieving families had “no intention” of participating in the new body.

“There is no real impartiality in the body,” she stated, noting it was “tantamount to them grading their own work”.

Demands for Document Release

For years, bereaved families have been calling for the disclosure of papers from government bodies on the attack – especially on what the state knew before and after the attack, and what evidence there is that could bring about legal action.

“The whole UK government system is resisting our relatives from ever knowing the reality,” she said. “Solely a official judge-led public inquiry will give us entry to the files they assert they do not possess.”

Legal Powers

A official national probe has specific official powers, such as the authority to oblige participants to appear and provide evidence connected to the probe.

Previous Investigation

An hearing in 2019 – fought for bereaved families – ruled the victims were illegally slain by the IRA but did not establish the names of those responsible.

Hambleton commented: “Government bodies advised the then coroner that they have absolutely no files or documentation on what remains Britain's longest unsolved atrocity of the 20th century, but currently they aim to pressure us down the route of this new commission to provide evidence that they state has never existed”.

Political Criticism

Liam Byrne, the MP for the Birmingham area, labeled the government’s ruling as “extremely unsatisfactory”.

Through a announcement on social media, Byrne stated: “Following so much period, so much suffering, and countless disappointments” the families merit a process that is “autonomous, court-supervised, with comprehensive capabilities and fearless in the quest for the facts.”

Continuing Pain

Discussing the family’s enduring sorrow, Hambleton, who leads the advocacy organization, stated: “No relative of any atrocity of any kind will ever have resolution. It doesn’t exist. The grief and the grief persist.”