🔗 Share this article Government Rule Out Open Investigation into Birmingham City Bar Bombings Ministers have ruled out initiating a open probe into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham bar bombings. This Tragic Incident Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were murdered and 220 hurt when explosive devices were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an attack commonly accepted to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA. Judicial Aftermath No one has been sentenced over the bombings. In 1991, six men had their sentences overturned after serving over 16 years in jail in what stands as one of the gravest miscarriages of the legal system in UK history. Relatives Campaign for Truth Relatives have for years pushed for a national inquiry into the explosions to discover what the authorities knew at the time of the event and why nobody has been brought to justice. Official Decision The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on Thursday that while he had deep empathy for the relatives, the cabinet had determined “after thorough review” it would not authorize an inquiry. Jarvis explained the authorities believes the newly established commission, established to investigate deaths associated with the Troubles, could investigate the Birmingham attacks. Activists Respond Activist Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, stated the decision showed “the administration show no concern”. The 62-year-old has long fought for a public probe and explained she and other bereaved relatives had “no intention” of participating in the investigative panel. “We see no real autonomy in the panel,” she said, noting it was “tantamount to them assessing their own homework”. Calls for Evidence Release For decades, bereaved families have been requesting the publication of documents from government bodies on the incident – especially on what the authorities knew prior to and after the incident, and what proof there is that could lead to prosecutions. “The entire British establishment is resisting our relatives from ever knowing the truth,” she stated. “Solely a statutory judge-led open inquiry will give us access to the documents they assert they do not possess.” Official Authority A legally mandated public investigation has distinct legal powers, such as the power to oblige participants to appear and provide details related to the inquiry. Previous Hearing An inquest in 2019 – fought for grieving relatives – concluded the victims were murdered by the IRA but did not determine the names of those culpable. Hambleton stated: “The security services advised the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no files or evidence on what remains Britain's most prolonged unsolved atrocity of the last century, but at present they want to force us to engage of this Legacy Commission to provide information that they claim has never been available”. Political Criticism Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, characterized the government’s decision as “profoundly unsatisfactory”. Through a message on Twitter, Byrne wrote: “After so much period, so much suffering, and countless disappointments” the families are entitled to a procedure that is “impartial, judicially directed, with complete capabilities and unafraid in the pursuit for the truth.” Enduring Grief Speaking of the families' ongoing sorrow, Hambleton, who heads the campaign group, stated: “Not a single family of any atrocity of any sort will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The grief and the sorrow continue.”