"We're not going away" - pub bombings families on fight for public inquiry

The government is being urged to grant a full public inquiry into the 1974 atrocity which killed 21 people

Author: Kellie MaddoxPublished 22nd Nov 2024

Families who lost loved ones in the Birmingham pub bombings have said they will not stop fighting for a public inquiry into the atrocity.

It comes after the city marked 50 years since 21 people were killed, and 220 others injured, in what is the biggest unsolved mass murder in British history.

Hundreds of people, including relatives and survivors of the IRA bomb blasts in 1974, gathered near a memorial at New Street station on Thursday for a service including a minute's silence.

The service also saw the names of those killed read out, as their loved ones' placed roses on the memorial.

Paul Bridgewater, whose father Paul Davies was killed in the blasts as he walked past the Mulberry Bush pub, gave a moving speech during the service.

Speaking to us following the memorial, he said: "We want the public inquiry, whether we get it not, we're going to keep fighting.

"I've got a daughter and she'll take over my mantle when I get older. I'm 50 in February, so I'm not going anywhere. I'll just carry on fighting, that's what my Dad would have wanted."

Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, has backed families calls for a public inquiry.

She has written to the Home Secretary urging her to outline the government's steps to "secure justice for victims and their families."

Brian Hambleton's sister Maxine was killed in the bombing which destroyed the Tavern in the Town. He leads the Justice4the21 campaign group along with his sister Julie.

Brian told us: "I'm not going away, all the others that fight with us, trying to find out the truth - they're not going away either.

"The public inquiry, like with all public inquiries, should leave no stone unturned. We are entitled to the truth."

We asked the Prime Minister last month whether he would grant the families an inquiry.

He told us: "A decision on whether or not to hold an inquiry obviously must be made following careful consideration of a range of factors specific to the case."

You can hear more from families on their ongoing fight for justice in the No Justice: The Birmingham Pub Bombings at 50 podcast on the Rayo app.

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