Birmingham pub bombings: PM pays tribute to families but fails to offer inquiry

Sir Keir Starmer has said the families of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings will “never be forgotten” but failed to commit to an inquiry into Britain’s biggest unsolved mass murder.

The Prime Minister said a new legacy scheme agreed with the Irish government meant that the atrocity could “now go into that system,” indicating it will be dealt with alongside other Troubles-era deaths.

Asked whether this made a full public inquiry more likely, he said reforms to the framework were designed to “get to the bottom” of “all” issues, including the Birmingham pub bombings.

Relatives of people killed in the 1974 attacks renewed calls for the probe “as a matter of urgency” last year ahead of the 50th anniversary of the killings.

Sir Keir said at the time that the Government was “engaging with the communities and campaigners” and would “come to a decision as quickly as we can.”

Speaking to BBC Midlands on Thursday, he said: “There has been engagement by the Government with those communities and of course what we’ve done, particularly in recent weeks and months, is to set up the new legacy arrangements, which we’ve now agreed with the Irish government and will now put through the necessary legislation and that means that this case can now go into that system and so we’ve made progress there.”

Pressed on whether an inquiry was in scope, the Prime Minister said: “Well, in my view 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 bombing and so that’s the route that this case should now take and I’m pleased that we’ve got the legacy arrangements in place.

“It’s something that hadn’t been done for many years but we’ve now managed to get them in the right place so we’ve made progress in that respect.”

Asked whether he understood why families felt forgotten, he replied: “Well, let me be clear and speak directly to them that they’re not forgotten and they will never be forgotten.

“I don’t think any of us would ever forget what happened in that pub bombing and for the families, that is acute and they carry it every single day.

“What’s important is that we therefore provide the mechanism through now the legacy arrangements for them to get the truth and accountability that they quite understandably want to see.”

Twenty-one people died and about 200 were injured on November 21 1974 when bombs exploded minutes apart in the Mulberry Bush, at the foot of the Rotunda building, and the Tavern In The Town in New Street.

Victims’ families have questioned why calls for a public inquiry into the Birmingham attacks have repeatedly been sidelined.

Six Irishmen, Hugh Callaghan, Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, John Walker, Richard McIlkenny and Billy Power, were wrongly convicted over the attacks and jailed for life in 1975, but were freed in 1991 after the Court of Appeal ruled their convictions were unsafe.

Inquest hearings which concluded in April 2019 found that a botched IRA warning call led to the deaths of the 21 people unlawfully killed.

An 11-member jury, which sat for almost six weeks, unanimously concluded an inadequate warning call by the Provisional IRA cost police searching the area vital minutes.

They also found there was “not sufficient evidence” of any failings, errors or omissions by West Midlands Police’s response to the bomb warning call.

A new UK-Irish deal on mechanisms to deal with the Northern Ireland Troubles was announced earlier this month, after engagement between the two governments following years of impasse over the toxic legacy of the conflict.

Labour came to power with a pledge to replace and repeal the 2023 Legacy Act introduced by the Conservatives, which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths.

The new framework will replace the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery body under that legislation with a Legacy Commission, which will investigate Troubles deaths, and a separate body will be created to deal with information recovery.