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Ministers have ruled out launching a public inquiry into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city pub bombings.

The Tragic Attack

On 21 November 1974, 21 people were killed and 220 hurt when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an assault widely believed to have been carried out by the IRA.

Judicial Fallout

Nobody has been convicted over the attacks. In 1991, six men had their sentences quashed after spending over 16 years in prison in what remains one of the most severe failures of justice in British history.

Families Push for Truth

Relatives have long campaigned for a public probe into the attacks to find out what the government knew at the time of the event and why nobody has been brought to justice.

Government Decision

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had deep compassion for the loved ones, the government had concluded “after careful consideration” it would not establish an investigation.

Jarvis explained the administration believes the reconciliation commission, established to investigate deaths connected to the Troubles, could examine the Birmingham attacks.

Activists React

Activist Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was lost her life in the attacks, stated the statement indicated “the administration are indifferent”.

The sixty-two-year-old has long pushed for a public inquiry and stated she and other bereaved relatives had “no intention” of taking part in the investigative panel.

“There’s no real independence in the commission,” she said, adding it was “equivalent to them marking their own performance”.

Requests for Document Disclosure

For decades, grieving loved ones have been demanding the release of documents from intelligence agencies on the event – specifically on what the authorities was aware of prior to and after the attack, and what evidence there is that could bring about legal action.

“The whole state apparatus is resisting our families from ever learning the truth,” she said. “Only a official judicial open inquiry will provide us entry to the papers they claim they do not possess.”

Official Powers

A statutory national investigation has particular legal powers, including the ability to compel individuals to attend and provide details related to the inquiry.

Previous Hearing

An investigation in 2019 – campaigned for grieving families – ruled the those killed were illegally slain by the IRA but failed to identify the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton stated: “The security services advised the presiding official that they have no documents or documentation on what is still Britain's longest unsolved atrocity of the 20th century, but now they intend to force us down the route of this investigative body to provide details that they claim has not been present”.

Official Response

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, characterized the government’s decision as “deeply, deeply disappointing”.

Through a statement on social media, Byrne wrote: “After such a long period, such immense grief, and countless failures” the relatives are entitled to a procedure that is “independent, judge-led, with full authorities and unafraid in the quest for the truth.”

Ongoing Sorrow

Discussing the family’s ongoing sorrow, Hambleton, who leads the Justice 4 the 21, said: “Not a single family of any horror of any sort will ever have closure. It is impossible. The grief and the sorrow persist.”