It’s been more than half a century since the night Birmingham was shaken to its core. On November 21, 1974, two bombs exploded in the heart of the city—one at the Mulberry Bush pub, the other at The Tavern in the Town. The attacks, believed to have been carried out by the IRA, left 21 people dead and 220 injured, forever altering the lives of hundreds of families and leaving a wound that, for many, has never healed.
Now, after years of campaigning by survivors and bereaved families, the UK government has announced there will not be a public inquiry into the bombings. Security minister Dan Jarvis delivered the news on October 30, 2025, expressing sympathy for the victims’ relatives but insisting that the ongoing investigation by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) would suffice. According to the BBC, Jarvis explained, “after careful consideration” the government would not commit to an inquiry, because it feels the independent commission will be effective.
The decision has been met with outrage and deep disappointment from families who have spent decades searching for answers. Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the bombings, has long been a leading voice for justice. In response to the announcement, she said, “It is as if they are quite literally spitting on the graves of our loved ones.” Hambleton, who founded the Justice for the 21 campaign group, has vowed to continue fighting: “As long as there is breath in my body I will fight for justice.” She had previously described the government’s reluctance as “the epitome of moral and ethical turpitude,” arguing that a public inquiry is the only way the truth would finally come out.
The government’s decision comes just weeks after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, speaking at the Labour Party conference in late September, assured the BBC that the families “will never be forgotten.” Starmer suggested that the new legacy arrangements—designed to address unresolved issues from Northern Ireland’s Troubles—might be the appropriate route to investigate the Birmingham pub bombings. “It might be that it needs to go into the new legacy arrangements, because they’re designed to get to the bottom of all the legacy issues, including the Birmingham pub bombings, so that’s the route that this should now take,” he said.
Responsibility for the decision was delegated to Jarvis, rather than Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, because Mahmood serves as MP for Birmingham Ladywood—a constituency directly affected by the tragedy. Mahmood, also speaking at the party conference, had previously promised to look “very soon” at “the best mechanism” to give families answers. “What I will assure those families is I absolutely hear their case, I understand what it is they’re looking for—they still want answers after all these years—and they have a right to those answers,” she told BBC Politics Midlands.
The ICRIR, established to investigate deaths related to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, has been granted what Jarvis called “a wide range of powers to access information, including from government departments, the police, and the security and intelligence agencies.” Yet, for many families and campaigners, these assurances ring hollow. Julie Hambleton has been outspoken in her criticism, describing the commission as “tantamount to the government literally marking their own homework.” She added, “There is no true independence at all as far as the commission is concerned. We have blood that still runs through our city pavements because no answers are being given.” Hambleton has refused to engage with the commission, arguing, “What they have provided in the letter [setting out the minister’s decision] contradicts itself, and it does not and will not serve our case.”
The pain of that night in 1974 still lingers for survivors. Maureen Mitchell was just 21 when she was caught in the blast at the Mulberry Bush pub. Shrapnel punctured her hip and lodged in her bowel, and she was dragged to safety by her fiancé and a security guard. Speaking to BBC Radio WM, Mitchell said the government’s decision was “no real shock,” and she expressed empathy for other families still fighting for answers. Asked what justice or closure would look like, she admitted, “I’m not sure because I came to terms with it a long time ago – that we would never see justice or closure. There’s been many things over the years, these people did it, or that person did it, but there’s never been any closure. I think, for my own sanity, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact I’ll go to my grave without ever knowing what really happened that night.”
The bombings’ aftermath is a story of injustice compounding tragedy. In the immediate wake of the attacks, six Irish men—later known as the Birmingham Six—were arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison in 1975. Sixteen years later, after a high-profile campaign led by investigative journalist and former MP Chris Mullin, their convictions were quashed and they were freed, having been cleared of any involvement. Mullin later identified three suspected real bombers—Mick Murray, James Francis Gavin, and Michael Hayes—in 2019, but withheld a fourth name. Despite a 2019 inquest ruling that the victims were unlawfully killed by the IRA, the identities of those responsible remain officially unconfirmed.
For the families, the lack of closure is a persistent ache. Paul Bridgewater, whose father Paul Davies was killed in the bombings, said his mother “never really got over it.” Reacting to the government’s decision, Bridgewater told BBC WM he was “disappointed” but not surprised, calling the ICRIR “an excuse.” He added, “We are going to come together as a group and have a discussion about it. We feel that the commission isn’t going to get what we want. It’s very disappointing. It’s not going to stop us. It just feels a bit flat at the moment.”
Local leaders have also weighed in, urging the government to do more. In a joint statement, West Midlands mayor Richard Parker and Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton acknowledged the enduring need for answers. “The pain and questions left by the Birmingham pub bombings have never gone away and the families have shown extraordinary dignity in their pursuit of truth,” they said. Both pledged to request a meeting with the security minister and Home Office officials, alongside the families, to discuss the next steps. Parker and Cotton called on the commission to “utilise its full powers” to ensure evidence relating to the bombings and their aftermath is brought to light “so that justice and answers can finally be delivered.”
The sense of betrayal was echoed by Laurence Turner, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, who described the decision as “disappointing.” Turner wrote on X, “The history of the Birmingham pub bombings makes this a special case. The survivors and families have been repeatedly let down by public agencies. There is little trust in the state after 50 years of failure to establish the truth.”
Despite the government’s assurances, the families’ struggle for justice seems far from over. Their determination, even after half a century, remains undimmed—fueled by the hope that one day, the full story of that terrible night, and those responsible, will finally come to light.
