Keir Starmer has been urged to challenge Donald Trump over extraditing misogynist online influencer Andrew Tate.

He and his brother Tristan have been unable to leave Romania since their arrest in December 2022 over allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.

But following US government involvement in his case after the election of President Trump, the pair of British-American dual nationals yesterday flew in a private jet from Bucharest to Florida.

According to the brothers’ lawyer, the ‘primary’ reason the Tates feel safe to return to the US is that ‘Donald Trump is the president’. But Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the Tate brothers were ‘not welcome’ after they arrived.

Four British women who are bringing separate civil claims against Andrew Tate in the UK, accusing him of rape and coercive control, yesterday said his flight from Romania has ‘retraumatised them’ – and their lawyer called for Sir Keir to intervene.

The brothers were already subject to an extradition order to bring them back to Britain, but only once Romanian legal proceedings are concluded. While they are supposed to return to Bucharest for more hearings, there are no guarantees they will – or that US authorities would compel them to do so.

In a joint statement the British women said: ‘We are in disbelief and feel retraumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given in to pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel around Europe and to the US.

‘We can only hope that the British authorities finally take action, do something about this terrifying unfolding situation and ensure he faces justice in the UK.’

Matthew Jury, the lawyer for the four women, said Sir Keir should raise with the Trump government the issue ‘on behalf of the many British women who Tate is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted who may now be denied justice’.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office insisted: ‘More widely, the Prime Minister has been clear that human trafficking should be viewed as a global security threat, similar to terrorism.’

Speaking after landing in the US, Andrew Tate, a former Luton resident, claimed that he and his brother are ‘largely misunderstood’.

He added: ‘We have yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives. We have no criminal record on the planet ever. Our case was dismissed on December 19 in Romania under the Biden administration and our prosecutor recently decided that we have no acting indictment, so they let us go and return [to the US].’ Former kickboxer Andrew Tate, 38, found fame in 2016 when he appeared on the Big Brother reality television show – but was booted off after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.

Read More: Bring Andrew Tate to the UK for trial

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