IRA Birmingham pub bombings

[Shabby Russian]

50 years on from this appalling crime you are not going to get a definitive truth, so I'm not sure what purpose a public inquiry has.

So i would ask the question and be specific, what are you expecting to learn from this public inquiry that you don't already know. 

If your answer is who committed the crime, then what you are really asking for is a re opening of the criminal investigation leading to a criminal prosecution. Which given the seriousness of the crime, I wouldn't be against .

[Middlemore rd]

50 years on from this appalling crime you are not going to get a definitive truth, so I'm not sure what purpose a public inquiry has.

So i would ask the question and be specific, what are you expecting to learn from this public inquiry that you don't already know. 

If your answer is who committed the crime, then what you are really asking for is a re opening of the criminal investigation leading to a criminal prosecution. Which given the seriousness of the crime, I wouldn't be against .

What about closure for the famlies and the actual city of Birmingham......i know mrs hambleton a loverly lady who is as strong as anyone can be .....lived down the road from me ..    She has been watched by the government and to close her down so previous governments can get rid of this problem she has refused to budge .

Everyone who lives in Birmingham has so much respect for her and want her to have closure and get the establishment to admit to their failures. As a city we should be grateful to her for her toughness and to get to the truth ...

J421

[Shabby Russian]

50 years on from this appalling crime you are not going to get a definitive truth, so I'm not sure what purpose a public inquiry has.

So i would ask the question and be specific, what are you expecting to learn from this public inquiry that you don't already know. 

If your answer is who committed the crime, then what you are really asking for is a re opening of the criminal investigation leading to a criminal prosecution. Which given the seriousness of the crime, I wouldn't be against .

What about closure for the famlies and the actual city of Birmingham......i know mrs hambleton a loverly lady who is as strong as anyone can be .....lived down the road from me ..    She has been watched by the government and to close her down so previous governments can get rid of this problem she has refused to budge .

Everyone who lives in Birmingham has so much respect for her and want her to have closure and get the establishment to admit to their failures. As a city we should be grateful to her for her toughness and to get to the truth ...

J421

Explain to me how a public inquiry gives her closure.

[Middlemore rd]

Fuck me read the fucking room .

If any of your family god forbid got blown up would you want to know why it happened and who's fault it was and why are the establishment covering it up ....honestly im gob smacked

[Squid]

Fuck me read the fucking room .

If any of your family god forbid got blown up would you want to know why it happened and who's fault it was and why are the establishment covering it up ....honestly im gob smacked

Why it happened - Someone planted a bomb x 2

Why the establishment covered it up - 1) Because until 1991, they had six people already convicted of carrying out the bomb and 2) No further convictions especially considering the vast amount of intelligence that was gained from informers, means that it is highly likely that whoever carried out the bombing went on to be some type of informer.

Those are the answers.


There's a wider discussion about inquiries and what they actually are able to achieve. I get that the process of an inquiry may feel beneficial to families, but Shabby is right to question what an inquiry would actually achieve.

[Shabby Russian]

Fuck me read the fucking room .

If any of your family god forbid got blown up would you want to know why it happened and who's fault it was and why are the establishment covering it up ....honestly im gob smacked

We know what happened, except we don't know who did it. 

What do you think the Government is covering up?
Given 6 men were convicted of these crimes, you seem to be implying that the Government knew they were innocent, a serious accusation, for which I doubt you have any evidence.

It's desperately sad that the people responsible for these crimes have been brought to justice, and this must be very difficult for the friends and families of those who were murdered. But a public inquiry is not a suitable vehicle for finding answers to unsolved crimes.

And I am fully aware of the trauma inflicted on the West Midlands, I was 11 when this crime took place. And the city did not heal quickly and I have always felt was diminished for some considerable  time following the bombs.

But again I have to say how does a public inquiry help over 50 years later?

[Squid]

Fuck me read the fucking room .

If any of your family god forbid got blown up would you want to know why it happened and who's fault it was and why are the establishment covering it up ....honestly im gob smacked

We know what happened, except we don't know who did it. 

What do you think the Government is covering up?
Given 6 men were convicted of these crimes, you seem to be implying that the Government knew they were innocent, a serious accusation, for which I doubt you have any evidence.

It's desperately sad that the people responsible for these crimes have been brought to justice, and this must be very difficult for the friends and families of those who were murdered. But a public inquiry is not a suitable vehicle for finding answers to unsolved crimes.

And I am fully aware of the trauma inflicted on the West Midlands, I was 11 when this crime took place. And the city did not heal quickly and I have always felt was diminished for some considerable  time following the bombs.

But again I have to say how does a public inquiry help over 50 years later?

Especially if, as has been found with the Soldier F case, information obtained during the course of an inquiry (in that case, the Saville inquiry) could not be used during criminal prosecutions. 

The Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday cost £191million. Was that money well-spent? Would a similar amount of money on a Birmingham Pub bombing inquiry be a worthwhile use of public funds?

[Tom Joad 25]

How any inquiry could possibly cost £191m is beyond me?
Paul Foot knows exactly who was behind the bombings and has interviewed him while he served time in Dublin.
Squid's comment suggesting he became an informer is the only realistic possibility, surely?
I'm not sure ALL the B'ham victims are as ardent as MH in wanting an inquiry?
If the price of peace is amnesty for terrorists then surely soldiers involved in past misdemeaners need to be absolved too?
It's a mucky business and a fragile peace, but it has to be worth keeping together.

[Middlemore rd]

Honestly some on here think our city being bombed by terrorists is not worthy of a enquiry. Go back a few years and loads on here was screaming for one because boris had a cake in the garden ......games gone tom .

[Tom Joad 25]

Honestly some on here think our city being bombed by terrorists is not worthy of a enquiry.  Go back a few years and loads on here was screaming for one because boris had a cake in the garden ......games gone tom .

Until this year I was all for an enquiry.  My thoughts now are in the post above yours. There may be a reason MH appears to be on her own among the families of the victims? Paul Foot found out the perpetrator and spoke to him in jail, all with the information the police have already.