Statutory Public Inquiry
A culture of impunity has been allowed to flourish in Britain, one that protects the powerful and abandons those they harm. Only a Statutory Public Inquiry deploys the power of the State to compel the production of evidence from powerful institutional and private interests – to return power to victims and dismantle the systems that harmed them.
Why a statutory public inquiry is necessary, now
No One Above has always said this is wider than any single predator. It is a system – of enablers, advisers, employers and institutions that knew and did nothing, or knew and were paid to look away. And that system flourished within a wider culture of impunity in Britain: one that protects the powerful and abandons those they harm.
A system is not dismantled by condemning the men at its centre once they are dead or disgraced. It is dismantled by establishing, on the record and beyond denial, how they were protected: who knew, who profited from its concealment, who turned victims away, and why not one of the institutions around them ever brought it to an end.
-
How was a trafficking operation embedded within Harrods and other Fayed-controlled orgnisations?
-
How was it funded and concealed over decades?
-
How were the different Fayed operations linked, and how were they linked with other perpetrator networks?
-
What role did other institutions including the Metropolitan Police, play in allowing it to continue, despite multiple opportunities to bring Fayed to justice?
-
Why wasn't the case recognised as trafficking much earlier?
That is why the vehicle matters. An inquiry into impunity must be a statutory public inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, with the power to compel documents and require witnesses to give evidence – and with failure to comply a criminal offence. Unlike a criminal investigation, which is confined to what can be prosecuted, a statutory inquiry can look at the wider picture – including conduct that was never criminal, such as the culture that allowed impunity to take hold.
Parliamentary scrutiny can and should begin at once. But a select committee cannot, in practice, compel a hostile witness; and it lacks the statutory powers that make a public inquiry impossible to evade. The individuals and institutions at the heart of this will not volunteer the truth. They must be made to answer.
No reason for delay
There is no reason for the Government to delay calling an inquiry. Inquiries routinely run alongside police investigations and civil claims – the Grenfell Tower and Thirlwall (Letby) inquiries are just two examples.
And if a concern arose that an inquiry might prejudice criminal or civil proceedings, the answer is not to abandon our most powerful tool for justice: an inquiry can be announced now and its hearings deferred until those proceedings conclude, while from the moment it opens it can use its statutory powers to require that evidence is preserved, making its destruction a criminal offence.
As Leigh Day partner Emma Jones has said, an inquiry "would not interrupt or cut across a police investigation" – and, unlike a select committee, only a public inquiry can compel documents and witnesses and ensure every issue is examined. Every further delay simply gives documents and witnesses more time to "go missing". Stop the clock now.
An inquiry to end the trifecta of impunity
A Statutory Public Inquiry is also necessary to understand – and remedy – the reasons why Britain has never jailed a predator as powerful as Mohamed Fayed.
The United States jailed Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Larry Nassar. Canada jailed the fashion tycoon Peter Nygard. China jailed the billionaire Wang Zhenhua. Israel jailed its own former president, Moshe Katsav. Why is Britain different?
The answer is Britain’s architecture of impunity. It rests on three pillars:
-
Dead end civil justice. It is virtually impossible for a survivor to take a powerful perpetrator to civil court.
-
A state that fails to protect. Serious sexual offending is policed so ineffectively that it has been decriminalised in all but name.
-
Gagged speech. When the courts and the police fail, journalists should be the last line of defence. Instead, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) let the wealthy threaten them into silence. NDAs apply similar pressure to victims.
Until this architecture is dismantled, the Government cannot credibly claim to be protecting the vulnerable, or to be serious about its promises on violence against women and girls.
In Britain, survivors must wait for their abuser to die before they can safely speak. That is why NOA is calling for a statutory public inquiry. Mohamed Fayed must be the last powerful perpetrator to die without facing justice.
Don't public inquiries take years, cost millions and the recommendations are ignored?
Public inquiries have been criticised: they are slow, costly and can even re-traumatise survivors; accountability, when it comes, comes late; and their recommendations are too often shelved. We share these concerns. But no other vehicle exists to expose the truth about serious institutional failings and learn from them – especially where perpetrators have obstructed survivors' path to justice. Furthermore, recent legislative and policy developments promise to address many of these concerns.
Time
The Hillsborough Law could make inquiries faster mainly by removing the long, adversarial fight over disclosure that has dogged them – a key example being the delays impacting the Spycops inquiry as the Met has stalled disclosure of evidence. Its statutory duty of candour compels public authorities and officials to act with candour, transparency and frankness in all dealings with inquiries, inquests and investigations, with clear obligations to proactively provide information and evidence, not merely when compelled, and without favouring their own position.
Recommendations
NOA also supports the recommendations of the Lords report on Public Inquiries: Enhancing Public Trust – specifically that inquiries should be shorter and their recommendations should be tracked (see commentary in the Guardian).
Costs
The steep costs of unnecessary delays to public inquiries would be reduced through the adoption of the measures listed above. But there is also the cost of repeating the cycle of elite impunity. The Fayed case is not an anomaly – that's why NOA calls for a public inquiry into impunity, addressing the root causes of why Britain has never jailed a sex offender with the power and influence of Fayed or those who resemble him.
Consider the costs of lost futures, shattered families, careers that never took flight, children who were never born – and the public cost of social services and care needs for those who suffer lifelong harm. Then there are the costs of policing and the justice system, of shattered trust in public institutions. We cannot afford the impunity of men like Mohamed Fayed. This is an investment worth making for our childrens' futures, and to take seriously Britain's project to halve violence against women and girls.
Calls for a public inquiry
August 2026
...there is no reason not to open a public inquiry now. Any public inquiry would take time to set up, but once opened the inquiry can use its powers to ensure all documents are preserved. It would not interrupt or cut across a police investigation.
Simply put, a public inquiry is the only way to ensure that all of the issues are explored, documents must be produced and witness can be compelled to give evidence. A select committee does not have the statutory powers of a public inquiry. Further delays simply means there is more time for documents and witnesses to "go missing".
August 2026
...Through our work supporting survivors of abuse by Al Fayed and through our partnership with the charity No One Above, we know there is an urgent need for a public inquiry to expose the network of individuals involved in enabling and perpetuating this abuse. A full understanding of what happened, and how it was allowed to continue, is important for accountability, justice and the wellbeing of those affected. It is also an essential step in ensuring that failures are identified and addressed, helping to prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.
August 2026
She has also backed calls for a public inquiry into the scandal.
August 2026
Before any institution is permitted to draw a line beneath this scandal, survivors and the public deserve to know how much beneath the polished image has really changed.
May 2026
We have written one more request for a statutory public inquiry into whether serious institutional failures allowed abuse and trafficking to continue for decades.
...We need people to be held accountable in order for us to feel that some sort of justice has prevailed.
March 2026
Dave Robertson MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP, who co-chair the APPG, said that "Fayed survivors have been ignored and failed for far too long. Their concerns must be heard and acted upon."
They added that the parliamentary group will be working to support the "survivors' campaign for justice, building a drumbeat of evidence for a public inquiry into the full extent of Al Fayed's crimes and his network of enablers."
February 2026
The Bolsover MP, Natalie Fleet... asked the prime minister to launch a national inquiry into the crimes of the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, telling him that victims had written to No 10 but had not received a reply.
She asked Starmer to meet her and the victims. “These are our victims, this is our Epstein,” she said.
May 2025
The women say that only an inquiry with powers to compel witnesses to give evidence can bring to justice those who facilitated the late billionaire’s abuse.
"We need people to be held accountable… we need people called up under oath."
April 2025
It is far more than the sexual assaults that police should be dealing with, it is the wider scale surveillance and intimidation that left so many of us terrified. The experience has left me paranoid and untrusting of people.
She now wants a public inquiry into state-sanctioned surveillance and police corruption.
May 2025
We hope to eventually get to the point where we might be able to ask some questions as to the behavior of the Met Police, CPS, during the time of Mohamed's ownership of Harrods.
So that would be a public inquiry?
It would, yes.
March 2025
In establishing the scheme, it seems that Harrods hopes to avoid the scrutiny of court litigation and prolonged ongoing reputational damage,” he added.
However, an independent public inquiry to investigate the systemic deficiencies, within Harrods, the Metropolitan Police and others, that enabled, covered up and failed to prevent such large-scale sexual abuse, is important to the survivors and the protection of women in society in future.
November 2024
November 2024
A lawyer representing Samantha's family and other victims of Al Fayed has called for a public inquiry into the case.
"A public inquiry can shine a light into the many dark corners of this awful ordeal, which will help lessons to be learnt and recommendations can be made to try to ensure nothing like this happens again," Emma Jones, from law firm Leigh Day, said.
“It is clear from Sam’s story that all of the reports against Al Fayed to the police are not accounted for, and until now they have not acknowledged that those that pre-date their digital systems may have been lost," she added.
"Something needs to be done to ensure this is looked at properly and thoroughly, leaving no room to hide."
November 2024
“The victims want a public inquiry because they haven’t been able to see him in court in the dock".
Baroness Harriet Harman calls for a public inquiry into the Mohamed Al Fayed sex abuse scandal.
September 2024
Mr Davies said questions need to be asked and that could happen in the form of a public inquiry.
"There are big questions here for the CPS because I hear far too often in my opinion that there isn’t enough evidence," he said.
September 2024
NOA's campaign for a statutory public inquiry
Campaign timeline
NOA, individual members and allies have continued to advocate for a statutory public inquiry. As private and commercial interests expand control over the vast evidence base, we believe that it is more import than ever that the Government announces a Statutory Public Inquiry without delay – and acts to ensure that all the evidence is retained and properly examined for the public good.
Letter to the Prime Minister: Request for a Statutory Public Inquiry
In May 2025, NOA members and allies delivered a formal letter to 10 Downing Street requesting that the UK Government establish a statutory public inquiry into serious allegations of sexual abuse, exploitation, and institutional failure involving Harrods, the late Mohamed Al Fayed, and associated individuals and entities.
The letter detailed survivors’ reports of long-term abuse, systemic cover-ups, and the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and intimidation to silence victims, alongside failures by Harrods management, law enforcement, and public authorities to act appropriately. It called for an inquiry to determine how such abuses were allowed to persist, assess the conduct of those in positions of power, and affirm that influence and wealth do not place anyone above accountability.
The proposed inquiry would examine internal safeguarding failures, the role of Al Fayed and his associates, the response of public institutions, and the mechanisms used to suppress complaints. Survivors and advocates expressed their willingness to support the process to ensure it is trauma-informed, credible, and transparent.
With growing media and parliamentary attention and parallels to other high-profile abuse scandals, the submission underscored the urgent public need for truth, justice, and systemic reform.
Parliamentary Representation
No single group or entity is representative of the Fayed cohort. The APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) for Survivors or Fayed and Harrods was established through the campaigning work of survivors and their allies in parliament, with the intention of creating a single forum to represent survivors voices and wishes. Co-chaired by Wendy Chamberlain MP and Dave Robertson MP, the APPG has undertaken critical work on behalf of survivors, including asking parliamentary questions, facilitating a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and engaging with the Met and IOPC. This critical work is unfunded – meaning that that potential of the APPG to act as the unifying, representative voice of the survivor community is not fully realised. Despite constraints, the APPG is an important source of information and provides regular consultation opportunities, for example in questions for the Met, GMC or IOPC. Survivors wishing to engage with the APPG can contact Jessie Mathewson, Office of Dave Robertson MP – and encourage your MP to get involved.
APPG for the Survivors of Fayed and Harrods
October 2025
NOA welcomed the announcement of the APPG for Survivors of Fayed and Harrods as the first step toward recognising the devastating impact of organised sexual abuse and trafficking linked to one of Britain’s most celebrated institutions.
We hoped that the APPG would provide a safe, trauma-informed forum for all survivors by centring their voices and needs. We especially welcomed the perspectives and support of parliamentarians and experts from academia, the third sector and the law, and we urged that the APPG Terms of Reference include the facts of trafficking in relation to the Fayed/Harrods case – and the adequacy of ongoing investigations.
APPG Terms of Reference
NOA asked the APPG to consult as many survivors as possible on the Terms of Reference for the APPG – providing the secretariat with a comprehensive list of law firms and support organisations representing survivors. The result of this consultation was the following Objectives, voted on by the largest and most representative survey of Fayed and Harrods survivors yet assembled.
Short‐Term Objectives
-
Question third-party institutions in evidence‐style meetings.
-
Raise immediate issues regarding police investigations, broader institutional accountability, and the Redress Scheme.
-
Seek recognition that the crimes involved are trafficking and modern slavery.
Long‐Term Objectives
-
Demonstrate the need for a statutory public inquiry.
-
Advocate for policy and system changes with a view to preventing similar abuse from happening in future.
