The sister of a woman killed in the Birmingham pub bombings said the Government decision not to hold a public inquiry is “outrageous”.
Julie Hambleton, whose sister, Maxine, lost her life in the 1974 Provisional IRA attacks, said a two-and-a-half page letter she received on Thursday morning explaining the Government’s decision was “patronising”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Hambleton, who founded the long-running Justice4The21 campaign group with her brother, Brian, to call for a public inquiry into the bombing, which killed 21 people and injured about 200 more, said it was a “disgraceful” way to treat grieving families.
She said: “We feel as though they are, in essence, spitting on the graves of our loved ones.
“It is a disgraceful way to treat anybody, let alone a group of families whose loved ones were slaughtered in cold blood nearly 51 years ago and to be basically told, once again, to go away and follow orders.”
Security minister Dan Jarvis said it was the Government’s “firm belief” that the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery could effectively investigate the case, “offering the best chance to provide answers to Justice4The21’s questions”, without the need for a public inquiry.
Ms Hambleton said she felt the Government was trying to “shut us up and pacify us”.
She said: “For decades we have been told that the establishment doesn’t have any files or documentation on the biggest mass murder of our 20th century history.
“Now, because they want to control the narrative, they want to force us down a road where they are now saying they will give us answers to our questions that we have been told for years they had no answers for.”
Asked what the families’ next steps will be, Ms Hambleton said: “We will need to discuss this letter and find the strength to read it again.
“People who have never had to fight like families like ours have, and have never suffered such loss – and you wouldn’t wish it on anybody – it is such hard work and it takes every ounce of your wellbeing in every sense.
“When you receive such letters, you have to find the strength to read it. It is all-encompassing and it is so patronising.
“We are the epitome of working class people and those in the Westminster bubble see people like us as bovine, but we’re not.
“It is outrageous. They don’t care. It’s David versus Goliath but we are the voice of the 21. If my sister was alive, she would be screaming from the roof because she hated liars.”
Mr Jarvis said the commission has been granted a “wide range of powers to access information”, including from Government departments, the police, and the security and intelligence agencies in connection with an investigation.
He said: “In investigations into Troubles-related offences, the commission has robust powers, including of arrest and to compel evidence.
“Its caseload is primarily driven by referrals from victims and their families, with the Guildford pub bombings, the Warrenpoint ambush, the Kingsmill massacre and the M62 coach bombings already referred to it by family members.
“The commission has the powers, resources, and expertise to support the families in seeking answers to their questions, and I would strongly recommend anyone else affected by the Troubles to talk to the commission.”
The Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, said he would hold West Midlands Police to account should the Justice4The21 campaigners decide to pursue a review.
He said: “I commend Justice4The21, for having campaigned with relentless courage and determination, over many years, to secure accountability, truth and justice.
“Although the Birmingham Pub bombings took place 51 years ago, there can be no statute of limitations on access to justice.
“The Government has, today, taken the decision not to establish a public inquiry. It is the Government’s belief, that the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery is an effective route which offers the best chance to secure accountability, truth and justice.
“If Justice4the21 decide to request a review by the commission, then I will hold West Midlands Police to account, to ensure that there is accountability, co-operation and engagement with the process, so as to ensure that Justice4The21 secure access to the justice they are entitled to.”
Ms Hambleton’s sister, Maxine Hambleton, was one of 21 people to die when bombs went off in the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern In The Town public houses in Birmingham on November 21 1974. The Provisional IRA never publicly admitted being behind the bombings but is believed to have been responsible.
