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Authorities have rejected the idea of launching a open probe into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub attacks.

This Horrific Attack

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were killed and 220 hurt when explosive devices were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an assault widely believed to have been carried out by the IRA.

Legal Aftermath

No one has been sentenced for the bombings. Back in 1991, 6 men had their sentences quashed after enduring over 16 years in prison in what is considered one of the worst failures of justice in UK history.

Relatives Campaign for Justice

Relatives have for decades campaigned for a open investigation into the attacks to uncover what the government was aware of at the moment of the event and why not a single person has been brought to justice.

Government Statement

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had deep compassion for the families, the administration had determined “after thorough consideration” it would not establish an investigation.

Jarvis said the administration believes the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, established to examine fatalities related to the Northern Ireland conflict, could examine the Birmingham incidents.

Campaigners React

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

The sixty-two-year-old has for decades campaigned for a public probe and stated she and other grieving relatives had “no intention” of engaging in the investigative panel.

“There is no real impartiality in the panel,” she remarked, explaining it was “equivalent to them assessing their own work”.

Requests for Document Disclosure

Over the years, grieving relatives have been demanding the publication of documents from government bodies on the incident – especially on what the authorities knew before and following the attack, and what evidence there is that could bring about prosecutions.

“The whole UK government system is against our relatives from ever discovering the facts,” she said. “Only a legally mandated judge-directed national inquiry will provide us entry to the files they state they do not possess.”

Official Capabilities

A legally mandated public probe has specific judicial capabilities, such as the ability to oblige participants to attend and provide evidence related to the investigation.

Prior Hearing

An investigation in 2019 – secured by bereaved relatives – concluded the those killed were illegally slain by the IRA but did not establish the identities of those culpable.

Hambleton said: “Intelligence agencies advised the presiding official that they have zero files or information on what is still Britain's most prolonged unresolved mass murder of the 1900s, but now they aim to push us to engage of this new commission to share information that they claim has never existed”.

Political Response

Liam Byrne, the MP for the local constituency, described the cabinet's announcement as “profoundly disheartening”.

Through a message on social media, Byrne said: “Following so much time, such immense grief, and countless disappointments” the relatives deserve a mechanism that is “independent, judicially directed, with comprehensive authorities and courageous in the quest for the facts.”

Enduring Pain

Speaking of the family’s persistent pain, Hambleton, who leads the campaign group, said: “Not a single family of any tragedy of any sort will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The pain and the grief remain.”