Birmingham pub bombings 50 years on - it can never be too late to tell the truth

Do the dead truly rest in peace? We must hope so.
Particularly in the case of the 21 Birmingham pub bombings victims and all their kin who have followed them to their graves over the past 50 years.
For little peace has been found by those relatives who remain, half a century on from that monstrous night in November 1974.
Because the full truth behind what happened still remains shamefully obscured.

Read more: Birmingham pub bombings 50th anniversary - remembering the 21 victims

If today’s sombre 50th anniversary were a straightforward one, it would be painful enough for the bereaved and the city as a whole. But it is far from straightforward. Those responsible were never brought to justice.

The crime is the biggest unsolved mass murder in British criminal history. And underneath it all remains the uneasy conjecture that for years there has been no real conviction from the police, and perhaps more importantly, politically, to attempt to close the case once and for all.

For all the sterling work of campaigners Justice4the21, a much sought after public inquiry - the only real avenue left open to them - still eludes their grasp.
Their request remains with the Home Secretary, seemingly forgotten.

The 21 victims who died in the Birmingham pub bombings

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It’s probably stuck to the bottom of a coffee tray. Let’s face it, the Birmingham pub bombings haven’t been a priority for any recent British Government.
But even if an inquiry was sanctioned, one wonders what it would achieve, given the passage of years, the deaths of so many involved and the ravages of time on the memories of those who remain.
Perhaps this - and inevitably the cost - is some of the thinking of the decision makers who believe that continued obfuscation and long drawn-out delays will make the issue go away.

It won’t. Not while Justice4the21 and its army of supporters - there are thousands across the country, particularly amongst the football fan community - continues its fight.
And not while this newspaper continues to support their efforts.
For who is to say that even now, at this late, late stage, that an honest investigation wouldn’t throw up some priceless nuggets of information which may shine a helpful new light on the whole affair.
The 2019 historic inquests, which this newspaper helped win for Justice4the21, certainly did.
In particular, and despite the efforts of the Coroner, the key issue for relatives - the names of suspects- both living and dead, were aired for the first time in a British court.
The ill-fated city bars The Mulberry Bush, at the base of the Rotunda, and the underground Tavern in the Town, in nearby New Street, were hit during the height of a bloody IRA bombing campaign on the British mainland.

Today, the UK remains on a higher terror alert than in 1974, despite vastly improved policing, intelligence and surveillance which has advanced light years since then.

Sadly, terrorism is never going away. Plots are more insidious than ever.
An honest public inquiry, unschackled by scope limitations, may reveal new, valuable and valid lessons which we can all learn from and which may yet be helpful to us in the battle against the scourge of terrorism today.
And, of course, it can never be too late for the truth, honesty and decency in any matter.
The core problem is the continuing suspicion that the truth about the Birmingham pub bombings being made public, even after all these years, and its implications, is what the authorities ultimately really fear.
But it is what this city, the dead 21, their surviving relatives and all those injured, deserve.
Nothing less.