UK victims of Jeffrey Epstein have called for Andy Burnham to launch a public inquiry into the financier's links to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Members of the UK Epstein Survivors Campaign will lobby the Prime Minister for "truth and justice" in a meeting scheduled for the coming months.
The organisation, which represents nearly a dozen survivors, including prominent campaigner Lisa Phillips, said the Epstein files published by the US justice department raised "serious questions that cannot simply be ignored". It said a national inquiry should look into Epstein's links to the British establishment.
Survivors demand transparency
In a statement shared with The Sunday Telegraph, the survivors said: "Records and correspondence concerning Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - including reported discussions involving money, finances and their relationships with Epstein - demonstrate precisely why the public deserves complete transparency."
Both Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Mandelson were arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office following allegations that they leaked sensitive information to Epstein and others. Both denied the claims and were released under investigation.
Calls for wider investigation
The UK Epstein Survivors Campaign said an inquiry should also investigate whether individuals in positions of power in Britain "enabled, facilitated or failed to stop Epstein's global sexual abuse and trafficking network". They urged officials to answer questions over the exact funding details of the settlement paid to Virginia Giuffre after she accused Mr Mountbatten-Windsor of sexual abuse when she was 17.
It is understood Ms Giuffre, who took her own life last year, was given a £12m payment in 2022 to end a New York federal lawsuit she filed against him alleging sexual abuse, but the exact financial terms were not disclosed.
Political support and next steps
No 10 last week denied reports suggesting Mr Burnham was set to approve a British inquiry into Epstein. A spokesman for the UK Epstein Survivors Campaign said the group was "delighted" about an upcoming meeting. They said: "If there has ever been an opportunity to finally secure the truth and justice that survivors have been denied for so long, we believe that opportunity exists now under Prime Minister Andy Burnham."
Calls for a UK inquiry have received cross-party support. A Downing Street spokesman said: "These women were subjected to appalling crimes and then left to carry them largely alone. They deserve to be listened to."
