More than 1,000 people have signed a new petition calling for an independent inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings.
Julie Hambleton is campaigning for a fresh investigation into the IRA atrocity in November 1974 which left 21 people dead – including her sister Maxine.
She posted the e-petition, called 21 Reasons to Re-Open the Birmingham Pub Bombings Inquiry, on a Government website three months ago. It needs to collect 100,000 signatures by November for the matter to be debated in Parliament.
Ms Hambleton said she was delighted at the support so far – but urged more people to sign up.
“We’re extremely pleased,’’ she said. “Every single person who was killed has a good reason to have their perpetrators brought to justice.”
Khalid Mahmood, MP for Perry Barr, has swung behind the campaign and is writing to Home Secretary Theresa May to ask for assistance.
He said: “It’s a very tragic case and [the family] want closure. I understand where they’re coming from.
“At the moment they haven’t had any response from the authorities.”
Mike Watts, a spokesman for the Justice For The Twenty One campaign, wrote an open letter published on Friday in the Birmingham Mail calling for Chief Constable Sims to re-open the inquiry.
Mr Watts said: “If you believe in justice, you believe in it wholesale. It might be a long time ago but I think for the families of the victims it’s only yesterday.”
Marcus Beale, assistant Chief Constable at West Midlands Police, said: “We have every sympathy for the families of the victims but with no fresh lines of inquiry we are unable to reopen the investigation.
“However, if anything new was to come to light then we would review the case.
“I would urge anyone who might have information to think about the families and what they have suffered. Please come forward and share that information with us.”
To sign the petition visit http://bit.ly/yAHE4y
