The Aporia · 'It was a long time ago': Squirming Lucy Powell says she 'regrets' helping to set up Russell Brand interview with Ed Miliband in Labour's 2015 election campaign

'It was a long time ago': Squirming Lucy Powell says she 'regrets' helping to set up Russell Brand interview with Ed Miliband in Labour's 2015 election campaign

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Tapsfield, J. (2026, November 10). 'It was a long time ago': Squirming Lucy Powell says she 'regrets' helping to set up Russell Brand interview with Ed Miliband in Labour's 2015 election campaign. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16280563/Lucy-Powell-regrets-Russell-Brand-interview-Ed-Miliband-Labour-election.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Lucy Powell, who was vice-chair during Labour's 2015 election campaign, admitted regretting her involvement in setting up an interview between Ed Miliband and Russell Brand on Brand’s show The Trews. This interview occurred when Miliband was attempting to appeal to younger voters, but at the time, there were no indications that Brand had a history of sexual misconduct. Powell acknowledged today that if they had known about Brand's past behavior as a sexual predator, they would not have facilitated the interview. She emphasized the importance of believing and supporting women who come forward with allegations now, suggesting such actions could prevent future victimization.

Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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Story summary

Lucy Powell, the UK Education Secretary, recently admitted to regretting her role in setting up an interview between Russell Brand and then-Labour leader Ed Miliband during the 2015 election campaign. The interview was intended to appeal to younger voters but has since been criticized due to revelations about Brand's past misconduct. Appearing on Sky News, Powell stated that had they known at the time of the interview what is now public knowledge regarding Brand’s behavior, including his involvement in sexual offenses, their actions would have been different. She emphasized that anyone who interacted with Brand or employed him would look back and regret it given current information. The interview took place after Brand had already been fired from BBC Radio 2 for leaving lewd messages on actor Andrew Sachs' answerphone.

Written for “Lucy Powell Regrets Russell Brand Interview” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.

Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.

Leaning score withheld for article 141073: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-10

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

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The Guardian

Leans left Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 65/100

“The articles discuss related topics but describe different events: one focuses on Lucy Powell's regret over setting up the Russell Brand interview in 2015, while the other discusses her criticism of Russell Brand's trial and sentencing.”

Comedian, actor, guru, rapist: Russell Brand’s path to prison Different event

ABC News (AU)

Hedges 1 of 36 claims Outlet record 67/100

“The articles discuss different events related to Russell Brand, one about an interview admission and another about his impact on political figures.”

From Burnham to Miliband, how the Left prostrated themselves before Brand the seedy Messiah Different event

Daily Mail

Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 51 claims Outlet record 69/100

“Article A discusses the general cosiness of the Left towards Russell Brand despite his controversies, while Article B focuses on Lucy Powell's regret for setting up an interview between Russell Brand and Ed Miliband during Labour's 2015 election campaign.”

Burnham says he was not aware of Brand's 'horrific' crimes Different event

BBC News

Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles discuss related topics but describe different incidents: one focuses on Lucy Powell's regret about setting up an interview during a past election campaign, and the other is Andy Burnham commenting on Russell Brand's recent legal issues.”

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1 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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69/100

Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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Who wrote this

James Tapsfield

115 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

The Education Secretary 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.'

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Also by James Tapsfield

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2026-11-09 · Daily Mail

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2026-11-05 · Daily Mail

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 115 articles by James Tapsfield →

Claims (18 extracted, 1 hedged)

Lucy Powell today admitted she 'regrets' helping to set up a notorious interview between Russell Brand and Ed Miliband before the 2015 election. asserted

she → admit → election

Mr Miliband, then Labour leader, appeared on Brand's online show The Trews as he desperately attempted to win over young voters. Touring broadcast studios this morning after the comedian was sentenced, Ms Powell - who was vice-chair of the election campaign - argued it had not been possible to check into Brand. asserted

it → appear → Brand

'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 told Sky News. asserted

she → have → News

we → add → what

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. asserted

Brand → take → granddaughter

Lucy Powell said she 'regrets' helping to set up a notorious interview between Russell Brand and Ed Miliband before the 2015 election Mr Miliband, then Labour leader, appeared on Brand's online show The Trews as he desperately attempted to win over young voters He had also 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. asserted

we → say → 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. uncertain

you → search → 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. asserted

one → say → that

'But as I say, he was a well-known public figure. asserted

he → say → ?

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

Lots → give → platform

'We didn't know at the time and unfortunately, maybe had people come forward or felt able to… asserted

people → know → time

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

Brand → jail → 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. asserted

things → say → you

You will be supported. asserted

You → support → ?

You will be believed. asserted

You → believe → ?

You will be taken seriously. asserted

You → take → ?

'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.' asserted

we → have → consequence

Mr Miliband suffered a disastrous election defeat at the hands of the Tories in 2015, and is now Foreign Secretary. asserted

Miliband → suffer → 2015

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'It was a long time ago': Squirming Lucy Powell says she 'regrets' helping to set up Russell Brand interview with Ed Miliband in Labour's 2015 election campaign

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Claims (18 extracted, 1 hedged)