On the rainy afternoon of September 30th, the primary leader of the campaign to free the Birmingham Six entered the GMB to receive Trinity College Law Society’s prestigious Praeses Elit award. That man was Chris Mullin, someone who has fought for a fairer and more just world through his investigative journalism and contributions as a member of British parliament. Mullin has had an illustrious career as a journalist, novelist, and politician. The Praeses Elit award, founded by former LawSoc auditor and first female president of Ireland Mary Robinson, is given to those who have made significant cultural and social contributions through their various fields. In their introduction, the LawSoc emphasised that Mullin is one of the most appropriate men to receive the inaugural award for this academic year – as he has been a “man of integrity” throughout his career as both a public servant and a superb writer.
Before his work in the Birmingham Six investigation, Mullin wrote two other successful fiction novels, A Very British Coup and its sequel The Friends of Harry Perkins. But Mullin took the British legal establishment by a storm with his 1986 book, Error of Judgement:The Truth About the Birmingham Pub Bombings. This book ignited the campaign to release the Birmingham Six, one of the most contested topics in modern British legal history. Following this publication and immense criticism from the British legal establishment, Mullin was elected as MP for South Sutherland in 1987, where he represented the Labour party up until his retirement in 2010. Mullin has continued to write and has published two more novels since 1991 as well, many of which are popular television adaptations.
Following his introduction and reception of the award, Mullin sat down with the LawSoc representative to dive right into his most famous political contributions. Mullin reminded the audience that the mishandling of the Birmingham Bombings in 1974 was one of the “greatest miscarriages of justice”. While working as a journalist, Mullin took matters into his own hands to prove the innocence of all six men sent behind bars. He had kept an eye on the Birmingham cases closely and knew that “in order to prove that they hadn’t done it, I needed to find the people who had done it,” he recounted to the audience. In Error of Judgement, Mullin does exactly that. Through his entirely independent investigation, he found the men actually responsible for the bombings and expressed his distaste for the lack of accountability within the UK courts. His efforts to call out the legal system before the book’s publishing had little impact, but Error of Judgement’s publication caused an upheaval – just as Mullin wanted. “The key is to upset them,” he explained.
When asked about the initial reaction of the legal community and the press, Mullin immediately opened Error of Judgement to the very first page. He then continued to read quotes from popular UK newspapers following the publication. Nearly all papers, from the Sun to the Daily Mail, disowned Mullin as a professional journalist and expressed absolute disgust for his audacity to go against the establishment. While reading these excerpts aloud, Mullin was anything but fazed, even giggling and rolling his eyes as he concluded the Sun’s rather garish quote.
The conversation shifted to discuss Mullin’s political career next. While in Parliament as a Labour party member, he voted against the UK’s involvement in the Iraq War, a decision shunned by many of his constituents. Mullin followed suit just as he did following the Birmingham Bombings – he remained committed to his stance even amidst harsh reactions. The moderator then inquired if there is more influence when sitting within or outside of the legal establishment, to which Mullin replied that in reality, “appeal court judges are brilliant yet stupid simultaneously.” His influence shifts depending on how well the job is done.
The final, and most evocative question, asked whether or not Mullin has seen a change in British judicial culture. Is the British legal system still an arrogant system? Mullin expressed his satisfaction with the increase in diversity across court judges, but also claimed that “judicial culture has changed, but not as much as it should”. Following the conclusion of Mullin’s engaging conversation, audience members were invited to purchase a copy of an Error of Judgement and had the opportunity for Mullin to sign the book himself. “Listening to someone who is so passionate about what he does and seems to never get tired telling stories from his inspiring life was such a delight,” said Nick Wilcke, an aspiring student-journalist. The inspiration radiating within the GMB went both ways that afternoon. While students sheepishly asked for a signature from one of the most influential political journalists, Mullin expressed a degree of “empowering optimism” in the presence of such passionate young people, as he explained in a statement to The University Times.
