Burnham considers UK public inquiry into Epstein activities

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is examining whether to launch a public inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the United Kingdom, victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said, as the fallout from the convicted sex offender’s abuse continues to draw scrutiny of powerful figures and institutions.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Davies-Jones said Burnham had agreed to meet Epstein’s victims and was reviewing what action the government could take now that he is in office.

“We are looking at this, we are reviewing what is possible,” she said. “Again, same with Harrods survivors.”

Davies-Jones said she had discussed the possibility of an inquiry into Epstein and the late former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed with Burnham and cabinet secretary Dame Antonia Romeo during her reappointment as victims minister. Al Fayed has been accused of rape and sexual assault by hundreds of victims.

“I have been assured that the prime minister is taking this very seriously,” Davies-Jones said. “He will meet with those victims and he is looking at what is possible, now he has access to all of the information as prime minister to see what action we can take.”

She said Burnham had also assured her he would “work with us to look at systemic change across the system for all victims.”

British police are already investigating a number of allegations related to Epstein, NBC News reported, with possible offenses ranging from child sex abuse to trafficking women through UK airports and misconduct in public office.

The renewed focus comes nearly seven years after Epstein’s death. NBC News reported that the scandal has rocked the British establishment and led to the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles’ brother, and Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the U.S.

Davies-Jones resigned from former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government in May and later accused his administration of failing to listen to Epstein’s survivors. She was reappointed as victims minister after Burnham took office in July. After her resignation, she told the Commons in June that people whose lives were devastated by Epstein’s abuse had too often been reduced to a footnote.

BBC Newsnight reported that as Burnham was finalizing plans to become prime minister, he was sent a document by leading Labour campaigners on Violence Against Women and Girls. The document proposed a full public inquiry into Epstein’s UK activities, Al Fayed’s alleged behavior and allegations from a BBC Panorama and Times investigation that West Ham co-owner David Sullivan preyed on women.

Sullivan has described the claims as false, saying he was “absolutely not the person the media has decided to paint me as.”

The document called for an “impunity” inquiry to examine how powerful men were allegedly able to carry out such behavior. On Epstein, it urged scrutiny of UK borders and asked how he was able to fly in and out of UK military bases on his private jet, often with allegedly trafficked women. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown raised the issue in February, according to the BBC.

Anouska di Georgiou, an Epstein survivor, told BBC Newsnight: “I welcome reports that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering public inquiries into the Epstein and Maxwell, Harrods/Mohamed Al-Fayed, and David Sullivan cases.”

“Survivors have heard promises before,” she said, “so what matters now is action, not headlines.”