Prime Minister urged to launch statutory public inquiry into Harrods abuse

Survivors first started the call for a statutory public inquiry more than 18 months ago, believing a statutory public inquiry is the only way in which all the information will come to light about how the abuse of those that worked at Harrods was able to continue for so many years.

During a parliamentary party meeting in parliament today, Bolsover MP, Natalie Fleet, asked the prime minister to launch a national inquiry into former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.

Survivors say that following the intense focus of the government on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the Prime Minister’s apology to his victims, that they have been left feeling unheard and silenced. It is reported that Ms Fleet told the Prime Minister: “These are our victims, this is our Epstein”.

Survivors also argue that the scope of the current Metropolitan Police investigation into the alleged abuse by former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed is limited and slow and say they have not been updated for a number of months. 

Survivors are calling for a review of the scope of investigations to ensure that the authorities are empowered to uncover the full, international scope of what they say amounts to trafficking associated with Al Fayed-controlled enterprises, including during his ownership of Harrods.

Members of No One Above, an Al Fayed survivor collective, say that a public inquiry is necessary to – in the Prime Minister's own words—ensure that in Britain, "we will not allow the powerful to treat justice as optional". 

The group say a public inquiry is also necessary to examine their belief that multi-country, multi-perpetrator trafficking was allowed to take hold within a respected British company during Al Fayed’s ownership, continuing for decades.

Leigh Day partner Emma Jones, who represents a number of survivors said:  

“I am working closely with survivors’ collective No One Above and a number of other survivors to push for a public inquiry.  The objectives are very clear: make sure that the years of abuse suffered by women working at Harrods is not quickly forgotten; make sure that what happened is properly and thoroughly examined, in a transparent and fair process; make sure that anyone who is still working in positions where they could still be facilitating abuse are held to account  and that measures are put in place to make this much more difficult in future. 

“We have seen time and time again the kind of open secret surrounding predators such as Al Fayed where it seems many people in positions of authority have knowledge or strong inclinations about unacceptable behaviour but rather than blowing the whistle publicly, they put in measures behind closed doors to protect the perpetrator, rather than the potential victims. It is only when things are brought to light publicly and investigated properly by the authorities that real change can be made and perpetrators held responsible. Until there is a full public inquiry lessons will not be learnt and future generations of women and girls will remain at risk.”