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Ministers have ruled out establishing a public inquiry into the IRA’s 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.
On 21 November 1974, 21 people were killed and 220 injured when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA.
No one has been convicted over the attacks. In 1991, six men had their convictions overturned after serving more than 16 years in prison in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.
Families have long campaigned for a public inquiry into the bombings to find out what the government knew at the time of the incident and why no one has been brought to justice.
The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had deep sympathy for the families, the government had decided “after careful consideration” it would not commit to an inquiry.
Jarvis said the government believes the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, set up to investigate deaths related to the Troubles, could look into the Birmingham attacks.
Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was killed in the attacks, said the announcement showed “the government don’t care”.
The 62-year-old has long fought for a public inquiry and said she and other bereaved families had “no intention” of participating in the commission.
“There’s no true independence in the commission,” she said, adding it was “tantamount to them marking their own homework”.
For years, bereaved families have been calling for the release of documents from security services on the incident – particularly on what the government knew before and after the attack, and what evidence there is that could lead to arrests.
“The whole British establishment is against our families from ever knowing the truth,” she said. “Only a statutory judge-led public inquiry will give us access to the papers they claim they don’t have.”
A statutory public inquiry has specific legal powers, including the ability to require witnesses to attend and disclose information related to the investigation.
An inquest in 2019 – fought for by bereaved families – ruled the victims were unlawfully killed by the IRA but did not determine the identities of those responsible.
Hambleton said: “The security services told the then coroner that they have absolutely no files or documentation on what remains England’s longest unsolved mass murder of the 20th century, but now they want to force us down the route of this Legacy Commission to share information that they claim has never existed”.
Liam Byrne, the MP for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, described the government’s decision as “deeply, deeply disappointing”.
In a statement on X, Byrne said: “After so much time, so much pain, and so many let-downs” the families deserve a process that is “independent, judge-led, with full powers and fearless in the search for the truth.”
Speaking of the family’s enduring grief, Hambleton, who leads the Justice 4 the 21 group, said: “No family of any horror of any kind will ever have closure. It doesn’t exist. The pain and the grief”.
A government spokesperson said: “Our deepest sympathies remain with all those who were left bereaved by the horrific pub bombings in Birmingham in 1974, as well as those survivors left with life-changing injuries.
“We know they are looking for answers and we are committed to helping them in this search for truth. We believe the most appropriate route to pursue this is through the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, which is already investigating over 100 Troubles-related cases and will be strengthened by the Troubles bill.”
