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10 Downing Street Sends Mixed Signals on an Epstein Inquiry · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Over the past 24 hours or so, we've
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: received some conflicting reports out of the UK about whether
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  Speaker 1: or not they're going to hold a public inquiry into
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. The Justice Minister, Jake Richards, said on
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  Speaker 1: Wednesday that the new government over in the UK was
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  Speaker 1: looking very seriously into holding a possible public inquiry. But
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  Speaker 1: almost directly on the heels of that comment, 10 Downing
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  Speaker 1: Street came out and set the record straight, saying that
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  Speaker 1: there's no plans, at least as of now, to hold
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  Speaker 1: a public inquiry. So in this episode, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: dive into an article from The Independent talking a little
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  Speaker 1: bit more about what's currently going on as far as
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  Speaker 1: a public inquiry over in the UK into the crimes
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  Speaker 1: of Jeffrey Epstein. Headline, Andy Burnham Insists No Plans for
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Inquiry hours after two ministers say the government is
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  Speaker 1: looking into it. This article was authored by Athena Stavro
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  Speaker 1: and Kate Devlin. Andy Burnham is not actively considering public
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  Speaker 1: inquiry into the actions of disgraced convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
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  Speaker 1: on UK soil, despite two ministers saying the government is
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  Speaker 1: looking into it. Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones is taking the
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  Speaker 1: issue very seriously, as she told BBC Newsnight, that she
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  Speaker 1: had agreed to meet with Epstein victims and is looking
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  Speaker 1: into a possible inquiry. Justice Minister Jake Richards then said
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  Speaker 1: on Wednesday morning that it was right that we look
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  Speaker 1: into what we can and that Mr. Burnham will look
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  Speaker 1: into it. But it's now understood that a public inquiry
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  Speaker 1: is not being actively considered by number 10. And that's
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  Speaker 1: basically the White House over in the UK. And when
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  Speaker 1: they say number 10, that's what they're referring to. Ms.
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  Speaker 1: Davies-Jones resigned as Justice Minister in May, noting a lack
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  Speaker 1: of bold, radical action under former Prime Minister Sir Keira Starmer,
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  Speaker 1: but returned to the role when Mr. Burnham took office.
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  Speaker 1: She told the BBC that before joining Mr. Burnham's government,
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  Speaker 1: she'd received assurances that he'd put victims first. I was
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  Speaker 1: having multiple conversations with him and his team, Ms. Davies-Jones said.
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  Speaker 1: He agreed to meet with the Epstein victims. He was
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  Speaker 1: in close contact with them throughout the period where he
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  Speaker 1: was becoming Prime Minister, and he has assured me that
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  Speaker 1: he will meet them now that he's Prime Minister, and
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  Speaker 1: will work with us to look at systemic change across
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  Speaker 1: the system for all victims, whether that be victims of Epstein,
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  Speaker 1: Harad survivors, or grooming gang victims. Well, isn't that nice?
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  Speaker 1: Because that grooming gang issue needs to be dealt with too.
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  Speaker 1: And don't even get me started on Al-Fayed. The allegations
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  Speaker 1: that were made against that dude, that were swept under
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  Speaker 1: the rug basically for all those years, they all need
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  Speaker 1: to be looked into. Because it looks like Mr. Mohammed
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  Speaker 1: Al-Fayed was a prolific abuser. A potential inquiry into claims
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  Speaker 1: against Mohammed Al-Fayed, the former owner of Harad's, who died
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  Speaker 1: in 2023, is also under review. And you notice over
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  Speaker 1: in the UK, they wait for these dudes to die?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, look at Jimmy Savile. Nobody wanted to talk
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  Speaker 1: about what he was doing while he was alive, but
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  Speaker 1: once he died, oh, everybody wanted to pile on. The
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  Speaker 1: truth is, people knew he was a degenerate, and they
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  Speaker 1: didn't care. And the same goes for Mr. Mohamed El-Fayed,
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  Speaker 1: and certainly for the scumbag Jeffrey Epstein. More than 400
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  Speaker 1: allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against El-Fayed dating
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  Speaker 1: back from 1977 and 2014. Now, does anybody on the
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  Speaker 1: planet believe that nobody ever reported him? Nobody ever punched
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  Speaker 1: it up the chain of command at work at Harad's?
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  Speaker 1: That Mr. Mohammed Al-Fayed was an absolute piece of shit?
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  Speaker 1: Of course they did. It was ignored. And why was
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  Speaker 1: it ignored? Well, because Mohammed Al-Fayed was paying the bills,
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  Speaker 1: you see. They include sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation, and
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  Speaker 1: human trafficking. The Met Police are speaking to at least
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  Speaker 1: 156 victims... who contacted them directly, including 21 who came
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  Speaker 1: forward before El-Fayed's death at the age of 94. Asked
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  Speaker 1: if a public inquiry was on the table, Ms. Davies-Jones said,
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  Speaker 1: We're looking into this. We're reviewing what's possible. Same with
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  Speaker 1: Harad's survivors. Well, if they want to just do a
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  Speaker 1: gigantic inquiry and cover all these bases, that's cool. That'll work.
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  Speaker 1: In my opinion, what's unacceptable is doing nothing. At least
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  Speaker 1: have this committee and bring witnesses up and see what
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  Speaker 1: they have to say. We already have a now statutory
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  Speaker 1: inquiry underway for the grooming gang's victims. I've been assured
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  Speaker 1: that the Prime Minister is taking this very seriously. Well,
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  Speaker 1: where have we heard that before? Not exactly the first
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  Speaker 1: time somebody's told us that they're going to take this
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  Speaker 1: seriously and then get into a position of power and
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  Speaker 1: do nothing. Now, we haven't reached that point here yet,
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  Speaker 1: but I have my suspicions about how serious they're going
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  Speaker 1: to be when it comes to justice for people that
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  Speaker 1: were abused by people like Epstein or Mohammed El-Fayed. And look,
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  Speaker 1: that's because we live in a world that is largely unjust.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm sure that's not breaking news to most people
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  Speaker 1: out there. He will meet with the victims and he's
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  Speaker 1: looking at what is possible now that he has access
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  Speaker 1: to all the information as Prime Minister to see what
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  Speaker 1: action he can take. She continued... what more can we
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  Speaker 1: do to truly make sure that our criminal justice system
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  Speaker 1: is taking victims seriously, that they can rebuild that faith
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  Speaker 1: and trust in the system again. Good luck. And I
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  Speaker 1: won't pretend to be some kind of expert on what's
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  Speaker 1: going on over in the UK, because I'm certainly not.
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  Speaker 1: But I know that the trust here in America, when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to the institutions, has been completely eroded away.
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  Speaker 1: And some of that is the cause of a demoralization
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  Speaker 1: campaign being run against Americans. That means you. But a
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  Speaker 1: lot of it is the responsibility of the institutions themselves
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  Speaker 1: from lying, being deceitful, and not doing what they say
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  Speaker 1: they're going to do. So can you blame people for
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  Speaker 1: not trusting them or trusting the outcome? And once that
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  Speaker 1: happens in society, it leads to bad things. And if
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  Speaker 1: we don't get our shit together soon, we're all going
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  Speaker 1: to have a front row seat to just how bad
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  Speaker 1: things can get. Justice Minister Jake Richards confirmed that potential
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  Speaker 1: inquiry on Wednesday telling Sky News, Well, I know that
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  Speaker 1: Alex and the victim minister had discussions with the prime
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  Speaker 1: minister about it. It's right that we look into what
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  Speaker 1: we can do. No stone should be left unturned. When
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  Speaker 1: we consider these horrific crimes that seem to have happened
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  Speaker 1: at huge scale, the prime minister will look into it. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's nice. But what's he going to do after he
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  Speaker 1: looks into it? That's what really matters. Plenty of people
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  Speaker 1: have told us, yeah, we're going to take a look
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  Speaker 1: at this. We're going to make sure that people that
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  Speaker 1: were responsible, people that were involved, are held accountable. Only
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  Speaker 1: to end up getting shit on every single time. And
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  Speaker 1: if you think you're frustrated, if you think you're upset,
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  Speaker 1: can you imagine how the survivors feel? Time and time again,
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  Speaker 1: people tell them, oh, we hear you. We care about you.
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  Speaker 1: Only to ignore them when the chips are down. And
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  Speaker 1: there's nothing else you can call that but cowardice, right?
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  Speaker 1: because that's what it is, straight-up cowardice. He'll take his time,
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  Speaker 1: no doubt, to think about the best route for victims,
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  Speaker 1: but also to crucially ensure lessons are learned, to make
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  Speaker 1: sure that these sorts of things never happen again. Jess Phillips,
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  Speaker 1: the former minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls,
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  Speaker 1: who resigned from Keira Starmer's government, accusing him of failing
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  Speaker 1: to take bold action, told The Independent she wanted to
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  Speaker 1: see an inquiry saying, There's a level of impunity that
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  Speaker 1: appears to have been afforded to some men with power
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  Speaker 1: and money, where parts of the British state were used
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  Speaker 1: to enable mass trafficking and abuse of young women and girls.
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  Speaker 1: The victims deserve answers. They most certainly do. Unfortunately, I
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  Speaker 1: don't think we're going to get them. At least not
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  Speaker 1: to the level that provides the clarity that we need. Look,
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  Speaker 1: the Justice Department, the UK, all these governing bodies... have
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  Speaker 1: one option here if they want to regain the trust
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  Speaker 1: of the people, and that is full transparency. And we
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  Speaker 1: all know that's not going to happen. Epstein survivor Lisa
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  Speaker 1: Phillips told the BBC she hoped for a meeting with Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Burnham would mark the beginning of a new chapter, one
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  Speaker 1: where survivors are heard, lessons are learned, institutions are held
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  Speaker 1: accountable where appropriate, and lasting reforms help protect future generations.
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  Speaker 1: Not asking for too much. God forbid, somebody that was abused.
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  Speaker 1: Ask for some reform. The BBC reports leading labor campaigners
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  Speaker 1: on violence against women and girls sent Mr. Burnham a
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  Speaker 1: document calling for an impunity inquiry investigating the UK activities
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  Speaker 1: of Epstein, the alleged behavior of El-Fayed, and allegations of
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  Speaker 1: sexual misconduct against West Ham co-owner David Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan
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  Speaker 1: was accused of sexually exploitative and predatory behavior by seven
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  Speaker 1: women during a joint investigation by BBC's Panorama, The Times,
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  Speaker 1: into the 77-year-old businessman. Now, to be honest, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know enough about that man's allegations to give you an
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  Speaker 1: opinion one way or the other. But this is what's
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  Speaker 1: being alleged. Mr. Sullivan, West Ham's largest shareholder, stood down
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  Speaker 1: as joint chair of the club shortly before the investigation
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  Speaker 1: was broadcast in June, saying he wanted to focus on
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  Speaker 1: fighting what he called factually incorrect and entirely false decades-old
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  Speaker 1: allegations concerning my personal life. The document reportedly calls for
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  Speaker 1: the scope of any Epstein inquiry to focus on UK
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  Speaker 1: borders and question how he was able to fly in
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  Speaker 1: and out of UK military bases on his private jet.
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  Speaker 1: often with women who had allegedly been trafficked. Well, I'd
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  Speaker 1: love to see that. I would love to see the
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  Speaker 1: UK kick that off. Do I have confidence that it's
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  Speaker 1: going to happen? No, I do not. But, as usual,
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  Speaker 1: we'll continue to follow along, and when we have some information,
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  Speaker 1: one way or the other, we'll get it added to
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  Speaker 1: the catalog. All the information that goes with this episode
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  Speaker 1: can be found in the description box.