UK cabinet to weigh ‘staggered’ age of consent after Russell Brand case

The UK Government will consider a “staggered” age of consent that would stop older adults from having sex with 16- and 17-year-olds. Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden confirmed the plan, after a woman who alleges Russell Brand raped her when she was 16 waived her anonymity to campaign for the change.

McFadden said the proposal would be discussed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet, six days after Brand was jailed for 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault.

“The whole country, last week, has been appalled by the abuse of power by powerful men, and a big age gap can be part of that, can be a factor in that,” McFadden told Sky News.

“We probably will consider it, but I can’t give you a result of that at the moment. What we will definitely do is think about whatever we can do to help people at the wrong end of these abuses of power.”

Speaking to the BBC on the same day, he said: “It’s certainly a question that has been raised and will be discussed.”

Under UK law, adults of any age can legally have sex with consenting 16- and 17-year-olds. Parliament raised the age of consent for girls from 13 to 16 in 1885. Later reforms set the same age for males and females, and for gay and straight sex.

READ MORE: Russell Brand jailed for 10 and a half years for rape and sexual assault

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Accuser waives anonymity

Mia Latter, 37, told The Sunday Times she was in an abusive three-month relationship with Brand when she was 16, and he was 30. She first spoke out in 2023 under the pseudonym “Alice”.

Latter said she met Brand in Leicester Square, central London, on her way home from a shopping trip. She said Brand, then working at MTV, took her number and invited her to dinner after she told him her age, and called her “the child” in front of his entourage. She alleges he orally raped her towards the end of their relationship.

Brand denied all of Latter’s allegations when they were first reported in 2023.

“He was a very successful man who had a lot of power and sway in the industry,” Latter told The Sunday Times. “Whereas I was a 16-year-old with no life experience, no sexual experience and no prior relationships. What was my level of maturity meant to be?”

Latter said Gisèle Pelicot inspired her to give up her lifelong right to anonymity. “It’s not my shame,” she said. “It’s not my burden to carry any more. It’s not me lying, and I didn’t commit any crimes.”

She wants the law changed so that it would be a criminal offence for a man over 30 to have sex with a girl under 18.

“I don’t want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other,” she said. “If you’re between the ages of 16 and 18, it seems reasonable that you can have relationships with each other, and [teenagers] are always going to.

“But… if you’re in your thirties, forties and fifties and you’re trying to have a relationship with someone under the age of 18, it [should be] a criminal offence.”

How Brand’s case unfolded

Brand was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 9 November. He received nine years for raping a 21-year-old woman at his London home in 2009, plus 18 months for three sexual assaults. He was acquitted of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.

The women who gave evidence came forward after Channel 4’s Dispatches aired a joint investigation with The Times and The Sunday Times in September 2023. An internal BBC report later found the broadcaster had ignored numerous complaints about Brand’s conduct.

Latter’s case was not part of the trial. The Metropolitan Police said its investigation into her allegation, launched in January 2026, “remains ongoing”.

Cross-party support builds

Louise Haigh, the de facto Deputy Prime Minister, told The Sunday Times: “It clearly would be a massive step to change the age of consent, but it deserves proper consideration and scrutiny. I can absolutely understand why she is calling for it.”

Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said: “It’s time for the government to recognise the implicit power imbalance held by older men over teenage girls.”

Walliams allegations sharpen NDA push

The debate comes as the Metropolitan Police assess “serious” sexual offence allegations against comedian David Walliams, who denies any wrongdoing. Some of his accusers said legal letters stopped them from warning others about him. The government has already pledged to change the law on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

Haigh said there was “a very strong case to look at banning NDAs in all circumstances where they relate to harassment or discrimination”.