Keir Starmer responds to calls for Andrew Windsor to give US Epstein evidence

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor should give evidence to the US Government on its Jeffrey Epstein probe, Keir Starmer has suggested. The disgraced former prince has ignored a deadline from Congress to help it with its investigation into the late paedophile and how the government handled his case. Asked whether Andrew should help with the case, the Prime Minister told reporters: “I don’t comment on his particular case. “But as a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it. That would be my general position on this.” Pressed on whether this would apply to Andrew, Mr Starmer added: "In the end that will be a decision for him. But my general position is if you have relevant information you should be prepared to share it.” Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who is among the Democratic members of the oversight committee, last week accused Andrew of “hiding” from their request to give evidence. The former prince has failed to respond to the committee’s official summons to testify about his friendship with Epstein. A letter sent to Andrew, signed by 16 members of Congress, requested that he responds by Thursday. The committee's letter said it had identified "financial records containing notations such as 'massage for Andrew' that raise serious questions". They have called for him to say what he knew about the actions of the convicted sex trafficker. Mr Subramanyam told The Guardian that the former duke "has been hiding from us, and I think he will continue to try to hide from people doing meaningful investigations of this matter". "It seems like every time we find more evidence, prince Andrew seems to be in the documents," he added. "And so I think if he is hoping that the story will just go away by ignoring us and being silent, he will be sorely disappointed, as we continue to pursue this over the next year and beyond." Andrew, who was stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month, denies any wrongdoing. On Wednesday night, Donald Trump signed a bill that forces the US Justice Department to release the files it holds on the Epstein investigation. It was a U-Turn for the US President, who had vigorously opposed the move. But he changed tack over the weekend and said Republicans should vote for it, after it became clear he did not have enough support in Congress to block the release. Officials have until December 19 to release the huge cache of files. All files and communications related to Epstein could be made public, as well as information about the investigation into his suicide in prison in 2019.