Police assess information around private flights to and from Stansted Airport after Epstein files released

Essex Police are assessing information around private flights to and from Stansted Airport following the release of the Epstein files.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown last week called for UK police to "urgently" re-examine claims women or girls were trafficked to the country aboard flights.

In an article for the New Statesman, Mr Brown said the recently published files relating to Jeffrey Epstein showed the paedophile financier's jet making 90 flights to or from UK airports, including 15 after his 2008 sex offence conviction.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files."

Stansted Airport said: "All private aircraft at London Stansted operate through independent Fixed Base Operators, which handle all aspects of private and corporate aviation in line with regulatory requirements. All immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving on private aircraft are carried out directly by Border Force.

"They use entirely independent terminals not operated by London Stansted and no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal. The airport does not manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft."

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said that information in the Epstein files suggested "a number of British girls were on 90 Epstein flights organised from UK airports on what was called his [Epstein's] 'Lolita Express'".

In an article for the New Statesman, he added that 15 of those flights occurred after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.

Mr Brown demanded a full inquiry and wrote: "I have asked the Met urgently to re-examine their decision-making in their investigation and the subsequent reviews."

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(c) Sky News 2026: Police assess information around private flights to and from Stansted Airport after Epstein