No inquiry into 1974 IRA Birmingham pub bombings

The government has announced it will not establish a public inquiry into the IRA’s 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.

The attacks saw bombs detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs on 21 November 1974, killing 21 people and injuring 220.

The killings remain unsolved. The convictions of six men, the so-called Birmingham Six, who were wrongly imprisoned for the crimes in 1975, were overturned in 1991 when the Court of Appeal ruled them unsafe.

In a statement on Thursday, security minister Dan Jarvis said while he had deep sympathy with the families, “after careful consideration”, the government would not commit to an inquiry.

He said it was the government’s “firm belief” that the existing Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery could effectively investigate the incident.

Julie Hambleton’s sister, Maxine, was among the 21 killed in the bombing.

In September, she told BBC Politics Midlands: “It would be the epitome of moral and ethical turpitude if they refuse to give us a public inquiry.”

She said the city was getting no answers to questions and only an inquiry would reveal the truth.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at the time that families of the victims would “never be forgotten”, but cases would be looked at under a new legacy scheme agreed with the Irish government.

While the IRA never officially admitted responsibility, it is widely believed to have been behind the attacks.