Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering a public inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein's UK activities, according to victims minister Alex Davies-Jones. BBC News

Davies-Jones told BBC Newsnight she raised the prospect of an inquiry covering both Epstein and the alleged behaviour of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed during discussions with the prime minister and cabinet secretary Dame Antonia Romeo at the point of her re-appointment as victims minister. Burnham has agreed to meet Epstein's victims, she said.

"We are looking at this, we are reviewing what is possible," Davies-Jones said. "Again, same with Harrods survivors." She said she had been assured the prime minister is taking the matter seriously.

The minister's position carries particular weight given her recent history. Davies-Jones resigned from Sir Keir Starmer's government in May and later accused the government of failing to listen to Epstein's survivors. In June she told the Commons (the House of Commons, the UK's elected lower parliamentary chamber) that people whose lives were devastated by Epstein's abuse had "too often been reduced to a footnote." She was reappointed to the victims brief when Burnham succeeded Starmer as prime minister.

Discussions about the Epstein survivors predated Burnham's move to Downing Street. Davies-Jones said she raised the issue with him before he became prime minister, and that he agreed to meet victims at that stage.

The political context is charged. In February 2026, Starmer apologised to Epstein victims over his appointment of Peter Mandelson, saying he was sorry he had believed Mandelson's "lies" before appointing him. Reuters The episode damaged the credibility of the previous government's engagement with survivors, and Davies-Jones's return to the victims brief under Burnham was read by campaigners as an attempt to reset that relationship.

BBC Newsnight understands that Burnham was sent a document by leading Labour campaigners on Violence Against Women and Girls as he finalised plans to become prime minister. The document proposed a full public inquiry covering three strands: Epstein's UK activities, the alleged behaviour of Mohamed Al Fayed, and allegations from a BBC Panorama and Times investigation that West Ham co-owner David Sullivan preyed on women. BBC News

Sullivan has described the claims as false. "I was absolutely not the person the media has decided to paint me as," he said.

The document called for an "impunity" inquiry, examining how powerful men were able to carry out the alleged behaviour. On Epstein specifically, it proposed a focus on UK borders, asking 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 highlighted the same issue of Epstein's use of UK military bases in February. Davies-Jones is understood to be familiar with the document sent to Burnham.

The proposed terms go beyond a single individual's conduct. The border and military-base dimension raises questions about which government departments and security agencies had oversight of Epstein's movements, and what, if anything, was done to scrutinise them. An "impunity" framing would also ask institutional rather than purely individual questions: not only what happened, but who facilitated or failed to prevent it.

Survivors have responded with cautious optimism. Anouska di Georgiou, an Epstein survivor, welcomed reports that Burnham is considering public inquiries into the Epstein and Maxwell, Harrods/Mohamed Al Fayed, and David Sullivan cases. She noted that survivors have heard promises before and that what matters now is action. Another Epstein survivor described Burnham as "the most supportive" as she seeks a public inquiry. Sky News

Several immediate questions remain unresolved. No terms of reference (the formal scope and rules governing an inquiry) have been published. The government has not indicated whether an inquiry would be judge-led, what its statutory footing would be (meaning whether it has legal powers to compel witnesses and documents), or whether it would be a single inquiry with multiple strands or separate inquiries. The Al Fayed dimension adds a further layer of complexity, given the number of civil claims already pursued against his estate and the posthumous nature of any investigation. The inclusion of the Sullivan allegations, which he denies, would require the inquiry to handle contested allegations against a living individual.

The broader context here is one of political calculation as much as principle. Davies-Jones is using her reappointment to press a cause she championed from the back benches (the seats held by MPs who are not government ministers). Burnham, who owes his premiership to Starmer's collapse over the Mandelson affair, has every incentive to be seen as responsive. The test will be whether "looking into" becomes a formal announcement with the institutional machinery to match.