Miliband went on Russell Brand show in ‘different era’ Labour deputy leader says

David Hughes, Press Association Political Editor

Labour’s deputy leader said Ed Miliband’s 2015 general election interview with Russell Brand took place in a “different era” before the disgraced comedian’s predatory sexual behaviour had been exposed.

Lucy Powell, who was vice chairwoman of Labour’s election campaign in 2015, said Brand had a “powerful platform”.

Mr Miliband, then the Labour leader, appeared on Brand’s online show The Trews as part of an attempt to win over young voters in his ultimately doomed attempt to become prime minister.

Ms Powell, now the Education Secretary, insisted Brand had approached Labour first as she faced questions over what role she played in setting up the appearance.

She told Sky News: “It was a long time ago, obviously and had I or Ed Miliband or anybody at the time had any sense at all that this was someone who was a sexual predator, who was involved in these sorts of crimes.”

She added: “I think like anybody who would have paid to go to his show, would have watched him on TV, who was his employer at the time, who had interactions with him – anybody, including those of us who were involved in that at the time – would look back and really regret that, knowing today what we now know.”

By the time the interview took place, Brand had already lost his BBC Radio 2 show for leaving a series of lewd messages on actor Andrew Sachs’ answerphone about a romantic liaison with his granddaughter, been fired from XFM for reading pornography on air and detailed his womanising in his autobiography.

Asked about her role in setting up the interview, Ms Powell said: “Look, we were in very different times. We weren’t in the social media age at the time, so where you could maybe search things up and see allegations or things about somebody at the time.

“And, as I say, if there was any suggestion at all, we were dealing with someone who was a known sexual predator at the time then, of course, no one would have done that.

“But as I say, he was a wellknown public figure. Lots of people, from Hollywood to the BBC to many others, gave this person a very, very powerful platform.

“We didn’t know at the time and unfortunately, maybe had people come forward or felt able to… it was a different era.”

Brand, 51, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years on Monday for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three TV and radio workers during his rise to international fame.

Ms Powell said: “What I would say to women now, off the back of that, is do come forward when these things happen to you.

“You will be supported. You will be believed. You will be taken seriously.

“Because actually, had we had an environment and a culture, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, where women felt that, then he would have been stopped in his tracks sooner and we would have had less victims as a consequence.”