Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh pressure to bring Andrew Tate back to the UK to face rape charges, as the influencer prepares to appear at a celebrity boxing match in Dubai this weekend. The 39-year-old, who has described himself as a misogynist, is due to fight American Chase DeMoor in the Misfits Mania bout on Saturday night.
Tate and his brother Tristan are accused of a series of 21 offences in the UK, including rape, assault, human trafficking and controlling prostitution. Bedfordshire Police has secured a European arrest warrant for the pair, but agreed to allow separate proceedings in Romania relating to rape and human trafficking to conclude first. The brothers were under house arrest in Romania until February and have since travelled abroad, including to the United States.
Tate also faces civil action in Britain from four women who allege assault and rape. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “The Tate brothers face extremely serious charges and it is long since time they were brought to face justice in the UK. The Prime Minister must call on the Dubai authorities to arrest them when they visit and extradite them so they the proper judicial process can take place.”
Emily Darlington, a Labour MP who has campaigned on behalf of Tate’s alleged victims, said: “It is an affront to justice that the Tate brothers are allowed to roam the world freely, while their alleged victims can’t even go on social media for fear of being harassed and having their locations exposed. Too often we see in our society that it is the victims and survivors whose lives are limited while abusers evade justice.”
Matt Jury, of law firm McCue Jury and Partners, representing the four women in the civil case, urged the Prime Minister to act. “The UK government has a golden opportunity this weekend to have Andrew Tate apprehended in Dubai and finally brought to face trial in the UK, but we have seen time and again that Labour ministers, for all their tough talk on tackling sexual violence against women, are reluctant to do what is necessary to possibly secure justice for the women who allege they were raped and assaulted by Tate,” he said. He added: “If you want to teach boys about the dangers of misogyny, start by showing them that there are consequences.”
