Julie Hambleton, representing the Justice for the 21 campaign, has delivered a stark message to the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham: the families of the 21 victims of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings will not give up their fight for truth and accountability. Since the campaign launched in 2012, seven prime ministers have come and gone, but the families still await a statutory public inquiry into the mass murder that killed 21 innocent civilians and injured hundreds more.
A Long History of Unfulfilled Promises
The campaign has met with numerous Home Secretaries, politicians in Westminster, Dublin, and Brussels, as well as three regional mayors – including the new Prime Minister when he was Mayor of Greater Manchester. Yet, despite repeated pledges, no statutory inquiry has been granted. An inquest into the bombings was held but ruled out of scope the question of who was responsible, leaving families without answers.
“We have met and briefed numerous Home Secretaries and other politicians at Westminster, Dublin and Brussels. We have met three regional mayors (including the new Prime Minister). We have met with numerous local MPs who have pledged and promised. And delivered nought,” said Hambleton in a statement.
Government Refusal and the Legacy of Troubles
The British government has refused a statutory public inquiry, arguing the bombings fall under the Legacy of the Troubles. However, the mechanism proposed for Northern Ireland families – deemed not fit for purpose by the government’s own reviewers – lacks independence and statutory powers. Hambleton points out that families in Northern Ireland have benefited from inquests, Police Ombudsman investigations, statutory public inquiries, and legal aid to compel disclosure, none of which has been available to the Birmingham victims.
“Some families in Northern Ireland have benefited from inquests, from investigations by the Police Ombudsman and from statutory public inquiries and from the availability for legal aid to take litigation to force discovery and disclosure of information about the murder of their loved ones. And that is good. But that was never available to our loved ones,” she said.
Obstacles to Justice
The Home Office has refused the inquiry, but the campaign believes it knows far more than it has admitted. FOI requests since the inquest are uncovering new information. The involvement of the Northern Ireland Office and civil servants with security connections in the decision-making process has undermined the Home Office's credibility. The decision, Hambleton argues, must go to the Prime Minister himself – a figure who championed the Hillsborough Law and a duty of candour.
“The decision must go to the Prime Minister – the ‘hero’ of the Hillsborough Law and of the duty of candour, transparency and frankness - denied to us by West Midlands Police, the coronial process in England, and the Home Office,” she wrote.
Precedents for Change
Hambleton draws parallels to other cases: the Patrick Finucane murder inquiry was refused by David Cameron, who reportedly said he was “not allowed” to establish one because of people around Downing Street, but was eventually granted in 2024. Similarly, the Omagh bombing inquiry was refused in 2013 and established in 2024. The Birmingham families ask: why not them?
“If the refusal for our inquest is a matter of national security (which has never been admitted) – or the limitation of reputational damage to the state institutions which failed our loved ones – then we are dealing with National Security from over 50 years ago ... and must ask: in whose public interest? For whose security – not the safety and security of our loved ones,” she said.
The Fight Continues
The campaign stresses that the Birmingham pub bombings are not part of the Troubles legacy; they are an unsolved mass murder in England, with systematic failures by state institutions. Despite meeting Burnham years ago and him knowing their cause, no progress has been made. Hambleton closes with a defiant message: “Andy, we shall fight on, we are not going away.”
