Ed Miliband aims to engage non-voting youth with Russell Brand encounter

Labour leader tries to shift campaign to higher gear by debating with comedian and then focusing attention on scale of tax credit cuts Tories would impose

Ed Miliband is seeking to shift up a gear in his election campaign with the broadcast of a surprise conversation with comedian Russell Brand about the value of voting and a warning about the threat to living standards posed by Conservative spending cuts.

The Labour leader agreed to be interviewed on camera by the iconoclastic comedian, who has previously urged young people not to vote, in a video that had been due to be released this weekend until he was spotted visiting by a neighbour of Brand's in east London on Monday night.

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