Birmingham Pub Bombings

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liam Byrne]

I am grateful to the hon. and learned Member for that intervention, and for his support for my call. He knows as well as I do that time after time, at every turn, the families were met with barriers, bureaucracy and broken promises. They were told that they could not get legal aid. They were told that their case was not part of the reconciliation, or the legacy of the troubles. They were told to wait until West Midlands police pursued leads that led precisely nowhere. They were told again and again to be quiet, but they would not be quiet and will not be quiet. This House should not sit quiet while their search for justice is unfinished.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the right hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this debate; he is absolutely right to do so. I have met Julie Hambleton, and I support her campaign. I have spoken to her a number of times, both in Belfast and over here. Justice is needed for the 21 innocents who were murdered. I would like to see that. As a Northern Ireland MP, the troubles are never too far from my mind. The legacy Act—the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023—never sat well with me because of the likes of the Kingsmill atrocity, and the need for the inquiry that the right hon. Gentleman is asking for, and which, I have to say, I fully support. Does he not agree that these people have had no closure or justice whatever, and that they deserve justice—the very same justice, as the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister) said, given to the Finucane family?

[Liam Byrne]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for bringing that point to the Floor of the House, and for backing my call. This campaign is not about vengeance. It is about truth and justice. It is about the right to truth and accountability. Our system of law and order, and our democracy, should work for all, not just the powerful. We have to ask in this House why, after all this time—after 51 years—there has not been a public inquiry. Let us be clear: this cannot be a desktop review. This cannot merely be looked into by an independent panel. It must be a judge-led statutory public inquiry, with the full power to summon evidence, compel witnesses and hold institutions to account. Why? Because these grieving families have been failed time and again, and after 51 years, it is enough.