Recently, our families had a meeting with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat. This was a meeting to discuss our continued push for a statutory public inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings. The meeting was confidential, as such, it would not be appropriate to pass comment, other than to say that we now await a decision from the Home Office on whether it will agree to give us a statutory public inquiry.

We entered and agreed to engage in a process after our meeting with Priti Patel when she was Home Secretary in 2021. We are now at the end of that process. A process which involved communication with the Crown Prosecution Service and West Midlands Police (WMP).

This process raised some serious concerns that we have engaged on with Home Office representatives. In particular, in March 1990 Chris Mullin gave an interview on LBC Radio. He was speaking directly about the WMP and referring to the Home Office.

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Mr Mullin stated: “The authorities know who did it…the police have a very good idea who did it, and they’ve known for the last 12 or 14 years…I think that by the middle of next week it will be possible to demonstrate, by using official documents, that the authorities know who put the bombs in the pubs…it will be possible to demonstrate that the authorities, the police, have known since late 1975 who put the bombs in the pubs”.

Chris Mullin was a sitting Labour MP from 1987 to 2010. He sat on the Home Affairs Select Committee which scrutinises the work of the Home Office. He was well known also for the work he carried out which resulted in the Birmingham Six being successful in their appeal against convictions for planting the bombs.

Therefore, the comments that Chris Mullin gave during his interview to LBC in March 1990 have caused the families great concern. If Mr Mullin is correct, then the WMP and the Home Office knew who planted the Birmingham Pub bombs in ‘late 1975’.

Again, if this is correct then why did the Police and ‘authorities’ (The Home Office) allow the Birmingham Six to be convicted and not instead go after the real perpetrators? This causes our families grave concerns.

We therefore have asked the Home Office to direct that a public inquiry is held into all the circumstances concerning the Birmingham pub bombings in November 1974. Did political interference take place at a high level? If it did why did it? Were suspects being protected? Are they still being protected?

We have suffered through the violent murder of our loved ones, then the Birmingham Six trials and appeals. Then the inquest in which the Coroner fought, with public money, to keep the issue of the perpetrators out of its scope.

What was so concerning to the Coroner (acting on behalf of the authorities) for him to use taxpayers’ money to appeal, thus ensuring that the ‘perpetrator issue’ was not allowed to be heard, alongside other issues, for example pre-warnings and informants?

It there something within the perpetrator issue which causes the WMP and the Home Office great concern?
We put a strong case to the Home Office Officials that a statutory public inquiry is directed to address our serious concerns which we say, are in the public domain.

We will not be commenting on our conversations with the Home Office in good faith and we now await the Home Secretary’s decision on whether or not to hold an Inquiry for the reasons previously mentioned.

Julie Hambleton is Justice For the 21 campaigner whose older sister Maxine was killed in the 1974 bombings in the city