The families of some of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings will appear before a key hearing in the UK tomorrow without a barrister, because of ongoing issues around legal funding.
The pre-inquest hearing into the 1974 IRA bombings is due to determine the scope of the inquest, and will involve substantive legal argument.
Twenty-one people died and almost 200 were injured when the bombs exploded in the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in November 1974.
The families have campaigned for years to have the inquest reopened, something that was agreed last year by the Birmingham and Solihull senior coroner.
However, ongoing rows over funding the families’ legal expenses now mean they will not have a barrister present tomorrow.
Belfast-based KRW Law has been representing the families free of charge for some years now.
While it was agreed by the Legal Aid Agency, after protracted talks, that funding for legal expenses would be provided for the families of those killed, the agency has now said no retrospective funding for any previous legal work will be paid.
In a statement, KRW Law said that it and its counsel had "not had the time to prepare properly for the hearing … despite our best efforts".
A representative of the law firm will be at the hearing in Birmingham tomorrow to "assist the families concerned and the coroner as best they can".
Five barristers, or Queen's Counsel, will be present to represent West Midlands Police, the Devon and Cornwall Police, the UK Government, the Police Federation and the Coroner.
The scale of the inquest is substantial, involving thousands of documents dating back decades.
An inquest was opened into the bombing at the time but was not concluded as six men were in custody who were believed to have carried out the attack.
Those men, who were known as the Birmingham Six, were wrongly convicted for the atrocity.Their convictions were overturned in 1991 following a long campaign.
