🔗 Share this article Government Rule Out National Inquiry into Birmingham City Pub Explosions Ministers have rejected the idea of launching a open probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham bar attacks. The Devastating Event On 21 November 1974, 21 individuals were lost their lives and two hundred twenty wounded when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an assault largely thought to have been carried out by the Irish Republican Army. Judicial Aftermath No one has been convicted for the incidents. Back in 1991, 6 individuals had their guilty verdicts reversed after serving over 16 years in detention in what stands as one of the gravest errors of justice in British history. Families Push for Justice Families have for years pushed for a national probe into the explosions to discover what the state knew at the time of the tragedy and why nobody has been brought to justice. Official Decision The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had sincere sympathy for the families, the cabinet had determined “after thorough deliberation” it would not commit to an probe. Jarvis stated the administration considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, established to look into deaths associated with the Troubles, could investigate the Birmingham attacks. Activists React Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, stated the decision showed “the government show no concern”. The 62-year-old has long pushed for a national investigation and explained she and other bereaved relatives had “no intention” of engaging in the investigative panel. “There’s no genuine autonomy in the body,” she stated, explaining it was “equivalent to them grading their own performance”. Demands for Document Release Over the years, bereaved relatives have been requesting the release of files from security services on the attack – particularly on what the authorities knew prior to and following the incident, and what information there is that could bring about prosecutions. “The entire British establishment is against our families from ever discovering the facts,” she declared. “Only a official judicial open investigation will provide us entry to the files they state they don’t have.” Official Capabilities A statutory national inquiry has specific judicial powers, such as the ability to compel witnesses to attend and reveal details related to the inquiry. Prior Inquest An hearing in 2019 – fought for bereaved relatives – determined the those killed were murdered by the IRA but did not determine the names of those accountable. Hambleton said: “Government bodies informed the then coroner that they have no files or documentation on what continues to be the UK's most prolonged open mass murder of the 1900s, but now they intend to push us to engage of this investigative body to share details that they claim has never existed”. Political Criticism Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, characterized the administration's decision as “extremely disheartening”. Through a message on X, Byrne stated: “After such a long time, such immense pain, and so many failures” the families deserve a mechanism that is “autonomous, court-supervised, with complete powers and courageous in the pursuit for the reality.” Enduring Pain Speaking of the families' enduring sorrow, Hambleton, who chairs the Justice 4 the 21, said: “No family of any tragedy of any kind will ever have resolution. It doesn’t exist. The suffering and the grief continue.”