Pub bombings campaigners march for public inquiry

Families of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings have marched through the city centre to renew calls for a public inquiry, nearly 52 years after the attacks.

21 people were killed and more than 200 were injured when bombs gutted The Mulberry Bush and The Tavern in the Town on 21 November 1974.

An inquest in 2019 concluded the victims had been unlawfully killed by the IRA, but did not establish the identities of those responsible.

The government has said "the most appropriate route" for the case is through the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIC).

But Justice 4 the 21 campaign leader, Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was among those killed, said "only a judge-led public inquiry can give us the answers that we desire most".

She said successive governments had offered victims' loved ones "empty platitudes", adding: "It's their actions that we want to actually see."

The ICRIR was created to investigate deaths and serious injuries linked to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and has been used to examine cases like the 1974 pub bombings in Guildford.

Former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said the legacy body, which was set up last year, could bring families "the truth and accountability that they quite understandably want to see".

Lorna Evans, whose uncle Jimmy Craig was killed in the bombings, was not born when the attacks happened, but said it was important for a younger generation of relatives to continue the campaign.

"It's about more than just identifying the perpetrators," she said. "It's about honouring the 21 victims."

"It's also about understanding the failures in our justice system by our police and by our government so it never ever happens to any other families going forward," she added.

Around 40 people were estimated to have taken part in the march on Thursday.

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