Gordon Brown calls for investigation into claims Andrew used taxpayer-funded RAF bases to meet Epstein

The former prime minister wrote letters to six police forces indicating that civil servants should be questioned about Andrew's time as UK trade envoy, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Andrew served as trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, including nearly three years when Brown was prime minister.

The former Labour leader also called for a full investigation into the trade envoy role, it is understood, including its cost to taxpayers and any evidence linking the former prince's government work to convicted paedophile Epstein.

In a five-page letter, he claims Andrew may have been expensing journeys made to and from personal meetings with the disgraced financier.

He also speculated that it was on those journeys that Andrew may have leaked confidential information - an allegation that prompted his arrest earlier this week. 

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Epstein, who was found in his New York cell in 2019, is believed to have landed at several UK airports including Edinburgh, Belfast, Liverpool Birmingham, Norfolk, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted on multiple trips to Britain.

On one trip in December 2000, he and his lover Ghislaine Maxwell landed in Luton and boarded a transfer Gulfstream jet into RAF Marham the following day before driving 30 minutes to see Andrew at the Royal Sandringham Estate.

Email and flight logs revealed by the US Justice Department show two additional passengers were aboard the RAF flight - with one referred to as an anonymous “female”.

Brown has now called on police to examine whether Epstein was given access to RAF bases by Andrew after the American was convicted in 2008 for soliciting child prostitution. He claims Andrew's use of taxpayers' cash has even more serious implications about Andrew’s alleged misconduct following his arrest earlier this week. 

Brown added that it could indicate complicity from the British state regarding Epstein's offenses. 

A ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “It is standard practice for spare capacity at RAF airfields in the UK to be used for private or commercial aircraft, subject to regulatory requirements and fees which cover all costs.“

Such use is not automatic and will only be approved when there is no adverse impact to military aircraft and where approval would not interfere with the security or smooth running of the airfield.”

Andrew was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, spending 11 hours in custody on his 66th birthday, after allegations he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.

Asked whether the Government would consider the move, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “We’ll look at any sensible proposals that do come forward.

“But it’s premature at the moment, because we do have the police doing their work.Calls have been growing from a range of public figures for a wider probe into Andrew’s past dealings with the convicted sex offender.“

They need to have the time and space to do so, as the King set out, no one is above the law, and it’s right that the police go wherever the eviConservative former security minister Tom Tugendhat said a special committee of MPs, peers and retired judges should be set up to investigate both Andrew’s and Lord Peter Mandelson’s links to Epstein.

He told The Sun on Sunday: “This affair raises urgent questions about foreign influence and national security. What did the Palace know? What did ministers know? What else is being hidden?

“This goes beyond what a court could reasonably consider. Parliament must consider what it means for the country. If the worst is proved, do we need to revisit treason laws written 700 years ago?”

Despite being stripped of his title last year, the former duke of York is still eighth in line to the throne, and an Act of Parliament would be required to remove Andrew and prevent him from ever becoming king.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government will consider introducing such legislation once police have finished their investigation into the King’s disgraced brother.

Both the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK have said they would support the move.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said it would be “intolerable” for Andrew to succeed to the throne and that the scenario is “not as remote as some people think”.

Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said that although there is realistically “no chance of him becoming our monarch”, the party would back a Bill brought forward by the Government “with the support of the King”.

Any changes to the line of succession would require the agreement of other countries which share the UK monarch, including Australia, Canada and Jamaica.

Detectives continued to search Andrew’s former home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor, Berkshire, on Friday and Saturday in an investigation led by Thames Valley Police.

He has denied any wrongdoing over his links to the convicted sex offender, but has not directly responded to the latest allegations.

After his younger brother’s arrest, the King said in a statement that “the law must take its course” and the police have “our full and wholehearted support and co-operation”.

Detectives have asked Andrew’s former close protection officers to “consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard” during their service could be relevant to the investigation into Epstein and his associates.

The Metropolitan Police said it is working with counterparts in the US to establish whether London airports had been used to “facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation”.

On Friday, the force said no new reports of alleged sexual offences have been made since the release of millions of pages of documents related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice.

Scotland Yard previously said they were looking into allegations that Andrew’s protection officers turned a “blind eye” to his visits to Epstein’s island, Little St James.Police have yet to identify any wrongdoing by close protection officers.Andrew’s primary accuser, Virginia Giuffre, alleged she had sex with him during an orgy with “underage” girls on the Caribbean island.

The former prince has previously vehemently denied all allegations made against him.