🔗 Share this article Government Deny Public Investigation into Birmingham City Bar Explosions Authorities have rejected the idea of launching a open investigation into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city pub attacks. The Horrific Event Back on 21 November 1974, 21 civilians were killed and two hundred twenty wounded when bombs 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 Irish Republican Army. Legal Consequences Not a single person has been convicted over the attacks. In 1991, six men had their convictions overturned after spending over 16 years in detention in what remains one of the most severe errors of the legal system in UK history. Families Push for Justice Relatives have for years pushed for a public probe into the attacks to discover what the authorities was aware of at the time of the tragedy and why nobody has been brought to justice. Government Statement The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had profound sympathy for the loved ones, the government had decided “after careful deliberation” it would not authorize an investigation. Jarvis stated the authorities considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, set up to look into fatalities associated with the Troubles, could examine the Birmingham attacks. Advocates React Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was murdered in the bombings, commented the announcement demonstrated “the government are indifferent”. The 62-year-old has for years campaigned for a national probe and said she and other bereaved relatives had “no intention” of taking part in the new body. “We see no true independence in the panel,” she remarked, explaining it was “like them grading their own work”. Demands for Evidence Disclosure Over the years, bereaved loved ones have been demanding the release of papers from intelligence agencies on the attack – specifically on what the government was aware of prior to and following the incident, and what information there is that could result in arrests. “The entire state apparatus is opposed to our relatives from ever discovering the facts,” she stated. “Solely a official judge-directed national probe will grant us entry to the files they claim they lack.” Official Powers A official open probe has particular official capabilities, encompassing the power to compel participants to attend and reveal details related to the probe. Prior Inquest An hearing in 2019 – secured by grieving relatives – concluded the victims were illegally slain by the IRA but failed to identify the identities of those responsible. Hambleton commented: “Government bodies informed the coroner at the time that they have no records or documentation on what is still Britain's most prolonged unsolved atrocity of the 20th century, but currently they aim to force us to engage of this investigative body to share information that they assert has not been present”. Political Response Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the Birmingham area, described the administration's ruling as “deeply, deeply disheartening”. Through a announcement on social media, Byrne said: “Following so much time, such immense grief, and countless disappointments” the relatives are entitled to a process that is “autonomous, court-supervised, with comprehensive powers and unafraid in the quest for the reality.” Continuing Pain Reflecting on the families' persistent grief, Hambleton, who leads the campaign group, said: “Not a single family of any tragedy of any kind will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The grief and the sorrow continue.”