It is worth noting that Ed Miliband (currently shadow climate change secretary), on advice from Lucy Powell (currently shadow leader of the house), agreed to be interviewed by Russell Brand at Brand's house ahead of the 2015 election. Even though the allegations of rape had not surfaced by then, Brand was a controversial figure who had already been sacked by the BBC for making lewd and cruel prank telephone calls on air, who confessed to a history of misogyny in his comedy routines and who claimed that '80% of women are up for threesomes'. Alastair Campbell, who had previously been a guest on Brand's show, said, 'I, for one, was glad when I heard Ed Miliband had said yes ... what Russell Brand says and does matters more than what the 'Sun', the 'Mail', the 'Telegraph', the 'Star' and the 'Express' are going to say on election day'. Ed Miliband himself considered the interview a success, saying, 'People criticise Russell Brand, and I don't agree with his message (not voting), but what he's saying, a number of people are thinking, which is that politics doesn't feel like it speaks for them.' Ayesha Hazarika, who worked on Miliband's campaign at the time, said yesterday that the interview was a 'terrible decision' and blamed it on the fact that 'there weren't a lot of women in the room making these decisions'.
Steven Rose ● 599d