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Brand Hits Back At Cameron's Joke Jibe

Russell Brand has hit back at David Cameron after the Prime Minister called him a "joke" when it emerged the comedian had interviewed Ed Miliband.

Ed Miliband had gone to Brand's London home for a late-night television interview for Brand's YouTube show The Trews - true news.

A picture of the Labour leader leaving was posted on Twitter at around 10pm on Monday and sparked speculation that Brand was going to endorse Labour after months of telling people not to vote at all.

Mr Cameron responded by saying he didn't "have time to hang out with Russell Brand".

Speaking during a campaign stop in Enfield, north London, he said: "He (Brand) says don't vote, that's his whole view, don't vote, it would only encourage them or something.

"That's funny, it's funny. But politics and life and elections and jobs and the economy is not a joke.

"Russell Brand's a joke. Ed Miliband, to hang out with Russell Brand, he's a joke."

Brand countered Mr Cameron's comments with a tweet, referring to the PM forgetting which football team he supports .

Alongside a picture of Mr Cameron in his Bullingdon Club days, the Hammers fan wrote: "Don't be jealous Dave - I'll run into you at West Ham - when you're not busy with 'ordinary people'."

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Mr Miliband also hit back by saying the "joke" was the Prime Minister's refusal to take part in a head-to-head televised showdown with him.

"I think a joke is saying you want this election to be about leadership and then refusing to debate me," he said.

Mr Miliband said he agreed to Brand's interview because he thought it would make the election "more interesting".

Brand has long preached about the futility of voting saying the political system must change because it has created a "disenfranchised, disillusioned under class".

He said he had never voted and never would.

A critic of capitalism and the Conservatives, Brand has recently released a documentary, Emperor's New Clothes, taking on the might of the banks and the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the UK.

In the film Brand takes on non-dom status that allows often very rich people, who live in Britain but are foreign-born or have foreign-born parents, to avoid paying tax on earnings outside the UK.

Labour has said it will abolish the status if the party is in power after 7 May as part of its "one rule for all" pledge.

Brand's interview with Mr Miliband is expected to appear on The Trews this week as part of "politics week". Monday's episode concentrated on the Liberal Democrats and a take-down of the party's record in Government.

In a trailer for the interview, Mr Miliband told Brand that a Labour government would take on tax avoidance by multinational companies.

He said many voters shared Brand's "outrage" over big companies who use complicated tax arrangements to minimise the amounts they pay, and assured him: "We've got to deal with that."