Aug. 5 (UPI) — The new Labour administration of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham denied Wednesday that it was looking at holding a public inquiry in to the actiivities of the late Amercian sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein in the United Kingdom.
Downing Street said it was not actively considering setting up a public inquiry, contradicting a government minister who said one was on the cards.
Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the BBC’s Newsnight program on Tuesday night that Burnham was “looking into” the possibility of an inquiry as a serious matter and had agreed to meet with the victims of Epstein.
However, Davies-Jones stressed it could be part of a wider process with the inclusion of abuse allegations against the late owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, also under review.
“We are looking at this, we are reviewing what is possible. Again, same with Harrods survivors. I have been assured that the prime minister is taking this very seriously,” said Davies-Jones.
“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 added.
Davies-Jones said that having resigned from Keir Starmer’s government in May over what she alleged was his failure to listen to Epstein survivors, she accepted reappointment to the same role after receiving a commitment from Burnham to look at “systemic change across the system for all victims.”
The BBC said the development arose from a document, put together by Labour members who campaign for action to tackle violence against women and girls, calling for a so-called “impunity” inquiry into how powerful men were able to get away with the behavior of which they are accused.
In the case of Epstein, the document said the focus should be on how he was able to use U.K. military air bases to allegedly traffic women in and out of the country on his private jet.
Billionaire Fayed, who died in 2023, is the subject of more than 400 claims of sexual abuse alleged to have taken place over almost four decades between 1977 to 2014, including rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
He owned and ran the luxury department store Harrods in London’s Knightsbridge district through 2010 after purchasing it as part of the House of Fraser group for $830 million in 1985.
