🔗 Share this article Ministers Rule Out National Inquiry into Birmingham Bar Explosions Government officials have decided against establishing a public probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham bar attacks. The Tragic Event On 21 November 1974, twenty-one people were lost their lives and 220 hurt when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub establishments in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA. Legal Consequences No one has been convicted for the attacks. Back in 1991, six defendants had their convictions quashed after spending over 16 years in prison in what remains one of the gravest errors of justice in UK history. Victims' Families Campaign for Justice Loved ones have for decades campaigned for a public investigation into the explosions to find out what the government knew at the moment of the event and why not a single person has been prosecuted. Government Response The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on recently that while he had deep sympathy for the relatives, the government had determined “after detailed deliberation” it would not authorize an investigation. Jarvis explained the government thinks the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to investigate deaths connected to the Troubles, could look into the Birmingham attacks. Advocates Express Disappointment Activist Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was lost her life in the attacks, commented the decision showed “the administration don't care”. The 62-year-old has long pushed for a national investigation and stated she and other bereaved families had “no desire” of participating in the investigative panel. “There’s no genuine autonomy in the panel,” she remarked, explaining it was “like them grading their own performance”. Calls for Document Disclosure For years, bereaved relatives have been requesting the release of papers from security services on the event – particularly on what the government was aware of before and after the bombing, and what evidence there is that could bring about arrests. “The whole state apparatus is resisting our families from ever knowing the reality,” she declared. “Solely a legally mandated judicial open inquiry will grant us entry to the documents they state they lack.” Legal Capabilities A official public probe has distinct legal authorities, encompassing the authority to require witnesses to appear and provide details related to the investigation. Earlier Investigation An hearing in 2019 – fought for bereaved families – concluded the those killed were murdered by the Provisional IRA but did not establish the names of those responsible. Hambleton commented: “The security services told the then coroner that they have zero files or information on what is still the UK's most prolonged open mass murder of the 1900s, but at present they aim to push us to engage of this Legacy Commission to provide details that they claim has not been present”. Official Criticism Liam Byrne, the MP for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, described the administration's announcement as “profoundly disheartening”. Through a message on Twitter, Byrne stated: “After such a long period, so much grief, and so many let-downs” the loved ones deserve a mechanism that is “impartial, court-supervised, with full capabilities and courageous in the search for the reality.” Continuing Sorrow Discussing the family’s enduring sorrow, Hambleton, who heads the advocacy organization, said: “No relative of any tragedy of any type will ever have resolution. It is impossible. The grief and the anguish persist.”