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Government officials have decided against establishing a public probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974-era Birmingham city pub attacks.

This Tragic Attack

On 21 November 1974, 21 individuals were murdered and 220 wounded when explosive devices were detonated at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town establishments in Birmingham, in an assault largely thought to have been planned by the Provisional IRA.

Judicial Aftermath

Not a single person has been convicted for the attacks. In 1991, 6 men had their guilty verdicts quashed after serving over 16 years in prison in what remains one of the most severe errors of justice in UK history.

Families Fight for Truth

Families have for decades fought for a national probe into the attacks to uncover what the authorities knew at the time of the event and why nobody has been held accountable.

Government Statement

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had sincere empathy for the families, the administration had determined “after thorough deliberation” it would not establish an inquiry.

Jarvis said the government considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to look into fatalities associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could look into the Birmingham attacks.

Campaigners Respond

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the attacks, stated the decision demonstrated “the authorities show no concern”.

The 62-year-old has long fought for a open investigation and said she and other bereaved relatives had “no desire” of participating in the commission.

“There is no true impartiality in the panel,” she said, adding it was “equivalent to them grading their own performance”.

Calls for Document Disclosure

Over the years, grieving families have been calling for the publication of documents from government bodies on the attack – particularly on what the authorities was aware of before and following the incident, and what evidence there is that could bring about legal action.

“The entire UK government system is against our relatives from ever discovering the truth,” she stated. “Solely a legally mandated judge-led open probe will provide us access to the documents they assert they don’t have.”

Legal Powers

A statutory national investigation has particular official powers, encompassing the power to oblige participants to appear and reveal evidence associated with the probe.

Earlier Inquest

An hearing in 2019 – campaigned for grieving relatives – ruled the victims were illegally slain by the IRA but failed to identify the names of those responsible.

Hambleton said: “Government bodies told the coroner at the time that they have no documents or evidence on what remains Britain's longest unresolved multiple killing of the 1900s, but currently they intend to pressure us to engage of this investigative body to provide information that they state has not been present”.

Official Criticism

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, labeled the cabinet's announcement as “deeply, deeply unsatisfactory”.

Through a statement on social media, Byrne said: “After such a long period, so much suffering, and so many let-downs” the loved ones deserve a mechanism that is “impartial, judicially directed, with comprehensive authorities and unafraid in the search for the truth.”

Continuing Sorrow

Reflecting on the families' ongoing pain, Hambleton, who heads the campaign group, remarked: “No family of any atrocity of any sort will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The suffering and the anguish continue.”