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Ministers have ruled out establishing a national inquiry into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham city bar bombings.

This Tragic Incident

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were lost their lives and 220 hurt when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an incident widely believed to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA.

Legal Aftermath

Not a single person has been found guilty over the incidents. Back in 1991, six individuals had their sentences reversed after spending more than 16 years in prison in what stands as one of the worst errors of the legal system in UK history.

Relatives Push for Truth

Loved ones have long pushed for a national probe into the attacks to find out what the state knew at the time of the incident and why no one has been prosecuted.

Government Statement

The security minister, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had profound empathy for the relatives, the administration had decided “after thorough deliberation” it would not establish an inquiry.

Jarvis said the administration considers the newly established commission, established to investigate deaths associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could investigate the Birmingham attacks.

Campaigners Express Disappointment

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was killed in the explosions, said the decision indicated “the authorities show no concern”.

The sixty-two-year-old has for years campaigned for a public inquiry and explained she and other bereaved families had “no intention” of taking part in the commission.

“There is no real autonomy in the commission,” she stated, noting it was “like them marking their own performance”.

Calls for Evidence Disclosure

For decades, grieving families have been calling for the publication of files from government bodies on the incident – especially on what the authorities knew prior to and after the attack, and what information there is that could bring about legal action.

“The whole UK government system is against our relatives from ever discovering the reality,” she stated. “Exclusively a official judicial public investigation will give us entry to the papers they state they do not possess.”

Official Powers

A statutory open probe has distinct official powers, such as the power to oblige individuals to testify and provide evidence associated with the investigation.

Previous Hearing

An inquest in 2019 – fought for grieving families – determined the those killed were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but did not determine the names of those culpable.

Hambleton commented: “The security services told the presiding official that they have no files or documentation on what continues to be the UK's most prolonged unresolved multiple killing of the last century, but now they aim to pressure us down the route of this Legacy Commission to provide information that they claim has never existed”.

Official Criticism

Liam Byrne, the MP for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, labeled the cabinet's ruling as “deeply, deeply unsatisfactory”.

Through a announcement on social media, Byrne said: “After so much time, so much pain, and numerous disappointments” the families merit a procedure that is “impartial, judge-led, with comprehensive powers and fearless in the pursuit for the facts.”

Ongoing Pain

Reflecting on the families' enduring grief, Hambleton, who leads the campaign group, said: “No relative of any horror of any kind will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The grief and the anguish remain.”