🔗 Share this article Government Deny National Inquiry into Birmingham Bar Explosions Authorities have ruled out establishing a open investigation into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city pub bombings. The Tragic Event Back on 21 November 1974, 21 civilians were lost their lives and two hundred twenty hurt when bombs were exploded at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town pub venues in Birmingham, in an incident largely thought to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA. Judicial Fallout Nobody has been found guilty over the bombings. In 1991, 6 individuals had their sentences overturned after enduring more than 16 years in detention in what is considered one of the most severe miscarriages of justice in British history. Families Fight for Answers Loved ones have long campaigned for a open probe into the explosions to uncover what the state was aware of at the time of the incident and why not a single person has been held accountable. Official Statement The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had profound empathy for the families, the government had decided “after careful review” it would not establish an probe. Jarvis explained the administration considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to look into deaths connected to the Troubles, could look into the Birmingham bombings. Advocates React Activist Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the bombings, said the statement indicated “the administration don't care”. The 62-year-old has for years pushed for a public probe and explained she and other grieving relatives had “no plan” of participating in the new body. “There’s no real autonomy in the body,” she stated, explaining it was “equivalent to them grading their own work”. Requests for Evidence Release For decades, bereaved loved ones have been requesting the disclosure of files from government bodies on the event – particularly on what the state was aware of prior to and following the bombing, and what information there is that could bring about legal action. “The entire British establishment is opposed to our relatives from ever discovering the reality,” she said. “Exclusively a statutory judge-led national inquiry will grant us entry to the papers they claim they lack.” Legal Authority A official national investigation has distinct legal capabilities, including the ability to compel individuals to appear and provide details related to the investigation. Previous Investigation An investigation in 2019 – campaigned for grieving relatives – determined the victims were illegally slain by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the identities of those accountable. Hambleton stated: “Government bodies advised the presiding official that they have zero records or evidence on what continues to be the UK's longest unresolved mass murder of the 1900s, but now they aim to pressure us to participate of this Legacy Commission to disclose evidence that they state has never been available”. Official Reaction Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the local constituency, described the administration's ruling as “deeply, deeply disheartening”. In a message on Twitter, Byrne wrote: “After so much period, so much suffering, and so many failures” the families deserve a process that is “impartial, judicially directed, with full capabilities and fearless in the quest for the reality.” Enduring Pain Reflecting on the families' persistent grief, Hambleton, who chairs the advocacy organization, stated: “Not a single family of any horror of any sort will ever have closure. It is impossible. The grief and the sorrow persist.”