Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell, now education secretary, says she “really regrets” helping arrange Ed Miliband’s 2015 appearance on Russell Brand’s YouTube show. Powell says the meeting happened in “a different era,” when allegations about Brand were less easy to find, and she argues that “history would have been very, very different” if anyone at the time had known or understood the allegations.
The reports revisit a video filmed at Brand’s home in the run-up to the 2015 general election, with Miliband and Brand discussing politics in an unusual setting. They also note the context of Brand’s later criminal case: he is convicted of rape and sexual assault and is sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. Metro and The Independent focus on Powell’s regret about the interview itself, while The Guardian highlights her comments about the courtroom process and the “depressing” cross-examination of Brand’s victims.
Across outlets, the core points largely align: Powell regrets the meeting, ties it to the time when information was harder to access, and emphasises she did not believe anyone involved could have foreseen what was to come. The Daily Mail frames Powell’s remarks as evasive, while other outlets present her defence in more straightforward terms.
