During the latest instalment of BBC Newsnight with Victoria Derbyshire, the veteran journalist invited Republican Congressman Thomas Massie onto the programme to debate whether disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor could be forced to testify in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

For weeks, the former Duke of York has faced mounting pressure from US officials and the family of his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, to testify in the US about his connections to late paedophile Epstein. Andrew, 66, has consistently denied any wrongdoing and reached a settlement with Giuffre out of court in 2022 that contained no admission of liability. Giuffree, 41, took her own life last April.

Massie told Derbyshire: "Well, let me first point out that it's ironic that we thought we could have more justice by becoming independent from Britain, but the only place we are seeing arrests is in Britain right now."

Andrew was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office in connection with his ties to Epstein. He was later released under investigation following hours of questioning by officers.

Massie continued: "That irony should not be lost. I do think we need somebody to testify. Somebody who was on the inside of all this."

When Derbyshire asked if he would count Andrew as being on the inside of all of this, he responded: "He sort of has the same problem as Ghislaine Maxwell.

"Which is, is the testimony coerced? Will they say whatever they can say to get out of trouble?"

Derbyshire interjected to say: "Well, what is the chance of giving testimony? What does that look like to you? Would you fly to Sandringham now, where he is now being forced to live? Do you expect him to get on a plane over here? Is it over Zoom? What does it look like?"

Massie replied: "Well, you have Great Britain asking the US for cooperation in the cases over there. If there were cases in the United States, I think he would be called as a witness."

The full Newsnight interview can be watched on BBC iPlayer.