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Government officials have decided against establishing a public probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham bar explosions.

This Devastating Event

Back on 21 November 1974, 21 individuals were murdered and 220 hurt when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA.

Legal Aftermath

Nobody has been sentenced for the bombings. Back in 1991, 6 defendants had their guilty verdicts quashed after spending over 16 years in jail in what stands as one of the worst failures of justice in United Kingdom history.

Victims' Families Campaign for Answers

Relatives have for decades pushed for a open inquiry into the attacks to uncover what the state knew at the time of the event and why no one has been prosecuted.

Official Statement

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had deep sympathy for the loved ones, the government had determined “after detailed deliberation” it would not establish an investigation.

Jarvis explained the government believes the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to look into deaths associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could look into the Birmingham bombings.

Advocates Express Disappointment

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the bombings, stated the decision indicated “the government are indifferent”.

The 62-year-old has long fought for a national investigation and explained she and other bereaved families had “no plan” of taking part in the new body.

“There is no real impartiality in the body,” she stated, explaining it was “tantamount to them marking their own homework”.

Requests for Evidence Disclosure

Over the years, grieving families have been calling for the disclosure of documents from security services on the attack – particularly on what the government was aware of before and after the incident, and what evidence there is that could lead to legal action.

“The whole UK government system is resisting our families from ever learning the facts,” she said. “Exclusively a official judicial public investigation will give us access to the papers they claim they do not possess.”

Official Powers

A official open probe has particular official powers, such as the power to compel participants to appear and reveal information connected to the inquiry.

Previous Inquest

An investigation in 2019 – secured by bereaved families – concluded the victims were illegally slain by the Provisional IRA but did not establish the identities of those accountable.

Hambleton commented: “Intelligence agencies informed the presiding official that they have zero records or information on what is still England’s most prolonged open mass murder of the last century, but now they intend to force us to engage of this new commission to provide information that they state has never existed”.

Official Response

Liam Byrne, the MP for the Birmingham area, described the cabinet's decision as “extremely disappointing”.

Through a statement on X, Byrne wrote: “Following so much time, so much suffering, and so many failures” the relatives are entitled to a mechanism that is “independent, court-supervised, with complete authorities and unafraid in the search for the truth.”

Enduring Pain

Discussing the family’s enduring grief, Hambleton, who leads the advocacy organization, remarked: “No relative of any horror of any kind will ever have peace. It doesn’t exist. The pain and the anguish continue.”