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Government officials have ruled out initiating a open probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham bar explosions.

The Horrific Attack

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were lost their lives and 220 wounded when bombs were set off at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub venues in Birmingham, in an incident commonly accepted to have been orchestrated by the IRA.

Legal Consequences

Nobody has been convicted over the attacks. In 1991, 6 individuals had their convictions overturned after spending more than 16 years in jail in what stands as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Relatives Push for Justice

Relatives have long fought for a open investigation into the attacks to discover what the state knew at the moment of the event and why no one has been held accountable.

Official Response

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had deep compassion for the relatives, the government had determined “after detailed review” it would not authorize an inquiry.

Jarvis stated the administration considers the reconciliation commission, set up to examine deaths connected to the Troubles, could look into the Birmingham bombings.

Activists Respond

Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was killed in the bombings, commented the statement indicated “the authorities don't care”.

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

“There is no genuine independence in the body,” she said, noting it was “equivalent to them grading their own performance”.

Calls for Document Release

For years, grieving loved ones have been demanding the disclosure of files from government bodies on the attack – especially on what the government was aware of prior to and following the attack, and what information there is that could result in arrests.

“The entire UK government system is against our relatives from ever knowing the truth,” she declared. “Only a legally mandated judge-directed open inquiry will give us entry to the files they state they don’t have.”

Official Capabilities

A legally mandated open inquiry has specific judicial powers, such as the ability to compel participants to testify and reveal information associated with the inquiry.

Earlier Hearing

An inquest in 2019 – campaigned for bereaved relatives – ruled the victims were murdered by the IRA but failed to identify the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton stated: “Intelligence agencies told the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no files or evidence on what remains England’s longest unresolved multiple killing of the 20th century, but now they aim to push us to participate of this Legacy Commission to disclose details that they assert has never existed”.

Official Response

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

In a announcement on Twitter, Byrne wrote: “After so much time, such immense suffering, and so many let-downs” the families are entitled to a procedure that is “impartial, judicially directed, with complete powers and fearless in the search for the reality.”

Continuing Grief

Discussing the family’s ongoing sorrow, Hambleton, who heads the Justice 4 the 21, said: “No family of any tragedy of any sort will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The grief and the anguish remain.”