Ed Miliband says he ‘deeply regrets’ Russell Brand interview as he condemns ‘horrifying’ crimes

Ed Miliband has said he deeply regrets appearing on Russell Brand’s web show back in 2015, as he condemned the crimes that saw the comedian jailed this week.

The interview saw the former Labour leader questioned by Brand in a video recorded at the TV star’s flat for his online series The Trews.

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.

Mr Miliband, who is now the Foreign Secretary, made the appearance as he tried to win over young voters during his failed bid to become prime minister.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Miliband branded the convicted rapist’s actions “horrifying” as he expressed regret for taking part in the programme after being accused of “cosying up” to the shamed comedian during his 2015 leadership campaign.

Mr Miliband told Channel 4: “What Russell Brand did was horrifying. It was horrifying, and all of my sympathies are with the victims of Russell Brand.

“And of course, there are further allegations about him as well as the crimes he’s been convicted of.

“If I had known then what has come to light, I would, as I’ve said before, never have done that interview. And as I’ve also said before, I deeply regret doing it.”

His comments came after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told MPs he “should be ashamed” of taking part in the video.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mrs Badenoch accused Mr Miliband of personally blocking a decision to approve drilling at the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea when he was energy secretary.

“He called Rosebank ‘climate vandalism’, but then he also thought cosying up to Russell Brand would make him prime minister,” she added.

“So I don’t think we need to trust his judgment.”

Labour MPs shouted “shame” in response to her remarks.

Mrs Badenoch hit back: “They’re saying ‘shame’. They’re right – the Foreign Secretary should be ashamed.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not address Mrs Badenoch’s comments about Mr Miliband.

He said: “We will take a further decision on Rosebank in due course, as well as building a renewable energy future.”

Downing Street later defended Mr Miliband, repeating Education Secretary Lucy Powell’s assertion earlier this week that the interview took place a “long time ago”.

Asked whether Mr Miliband should address his previous contact with Brand, Mr Burnham’s political spokesman said: “The Prime Minister was asked about this on Friday in an interview with the BBC.

“As he said, it’s not always the case that people know everything about people in public life, but what is important is where there is wrongdoing, it is exposed.

“The PM also praised the bravery of the victims, saying credit to the victims, huge credit for the courage it’s taken, but also for the journalists that have exposed this.”

The contact took place after the comedian had been sacked from his BBC Radio 2 show for leaving a series of lewd messages on actor Andrew Sachs’s answerphone about a romantic liaison with his granddaughter.

Asked whether the Prime Minister had asked Mr Miliband for an explanation of that contact, the spokesman pointed to Ms Powell’s remarks earlier in the week.

She told Sky News: “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.

“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 well-known public figure.

“Lots of people, from Hollywood to the BBC to many others, gave this person a very, very powerful platform.”