Ed Miliband eyes youth vote with Russell Brand interview

Ed Miliband sought to galvanise the youth vote as he promised to "change the way the country works" in an interview with Russell Brand on the maverick comedian's own YouTube channel.

In a good-natured, 15-minute interview, filmed in the kitchen of Mr Brand's London house, the Labour leader was pushed by the anticapitalist campaigner on how he would tackle "the unelected powerful elites that really control things behind the scenes" if he became prime minister after the general election next week.

"My main point is will you confront these powerful interests?", Mr Brand asked.

"I think this is the central thing we have got to confront in this country . . . who is this country run for," Mr Miliband replied. "Is it just run for the richest and most powerful or is it run for working people . . . It is rooted in inequality, an unequal society. I think an equal society is a more successful society. That is why we need a system and a plan, that is what we've got in this election, to change the way the country works."

Mr Miliband was criticised by David Cameron and the rightwing press for appearing on The Trews channel on YouTube run by Mr Brand, a leftwing polemicist with 9.5m Twitter followers.

On Tuesday, the day after it emerged Mr Miliband had recorded the interview, Mr Cameron said about Mr Brand: "He says don't vote . . . he is funny. Right? . . . You know politics and life and elections and jobs and the economy is not a joke."

But Mr Miliband hit back and said he would do anything to challenge people who thought voting would not make a difference.

Mr Brand has regularly urged people to show their distain for politicians and follow his lead and not vote. Turnout among younger voters had long been running below the national average amid growing signs people between 18 and 24 were becoming increasingly disengaged by the political process.

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One of the previous broadcasts on Mr Brand's channel that went viral - including an attack on Fox News's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - attracted more than 3.2m views worldwide. Some of his other shows have attracted 500,000 views and above.

The rightwing tabloid press predictably had a field day with Mr Miliband's appearance on The Trews before the video aired. On Tuesday morning, the front page of The Sun ran the headline "Monster Raving Labour party" and accused Mr Miliband of putting on a mock Cockney accent.

The Daily Mail asked the question on the front page next to a screenshot of the trailer of Mr Brand and Mr Miliband's interview: "Do you really want this clown ruling us? (And, no, we don't mean the one on the left)", referring to the position occupied by Mr Brand in the picture.

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