Moment 'rude' Russell Brand grabs random woman's arm in Parliament and accuses fellow guest speaker of flirting with her

Russell Brand grabbed a woman's arm while speaking in Parliament and accused a fellow guest of flirting with her, footage from more than a decade ago reveals.Footage from the hearing in 2012 shows the moment Brand grabbed hold of a woman's arm and held onto her for four seconds as she tried to pass him by.After she managed to get by and free herself from his grasp, the disgraced comedian then made a joke about another man in the hearing flirting with her. During the hearing in front of the home affairs select committee, Brand laughed with Labour politicians about his 'occasional skirmishes' with criminal activity and ridiculed a Tory MP who had asked to consider the experiences of victims of crime.He was speaking on drug policy after being invited to do so by Keith Vaz, a former Labour minister, who chaired the group. Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. A jury convicted him just days earlier on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women, and cleared him on two further rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. In the 2012 hearing, Chip Somers, a former drug addict and recovery specialist, was interrupted by the comedian as two women tried to pass behind him. Russell Brand speaking on drug policy in front of the home affairs select committee in 2012 Footage from the hearing in 2012 shows the moment Brand grabbed hold of a woman's arm and held onto her for four seconds as she tried to pass him by Chip Somers, a former drug addict and recovery specialist, was interrupted by the comedian as two women tried to pass behind him'This lady has to get by. Sorry, love,' Brand said. Mr Somers responded: 'I was right in the middle of my answer then.' Brand then grabbed the woman by the arm and when Mr Somers said he had forgotten what he was telling the hearing, Brand quickly responded: 'That is because he was flirting with them two.' Elsewhere in the hearing, Sir Michael Ellis KC, a former Conservative MP and attorney general, asked Brand: 'What about the victims of the crime?''We talked about them,' Brand responded. 'We talked about them. You can tell what party they are in from their questions, can't you?' Appearing to mimic Sir Michael, Brand said: 'What about the victims of the crime?' Laughter in the Commons hearing followed, but Sir Michael replied: 'I think all parties are interested in victims of crime.' At another point, Brand also joked about how he was able to stop his criminal behaviour, saying: 'It wasn't until I had access to abstinence-based recovery that I was able to change my behaviour and significantly reduce, all but obliterate, my criminal activity, apart from the occasional skirmish.' Speaking to The Telegraph this week, Sir Michael said he remembered his interaction with Brand at the hearing and described him as being 'rather rude'. He said: 'I was a barrister in criminal practice for 17 years before becoming an MP in 2010, and I had seen first hand the effects of drugs on victims as well as defendants.'Brand seemed at the height of his popularity at the time of that committee hearing in 2012, and he was immensely popular – particularly with Labour MPs – but I didn't think it was right not to put the other side of the argument to him.'Labour MPs seemed very friendly to him, but I pushed back and had no compunction in putting the [victims'] side to him. I recall his response simply being rather rude.' British comedian and actor Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. Pictured: Brand leaving Southwark Crown Court in south London on October 30Speaking today, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said that Ed Miliband should be 'ashamed' of 'cosying up' to disgraced comic Russell Brand in an attempt to win political power. The Tory leader used Prime Minister's Questions to hit out at the Foreign Secretary, who has so far remained silent over his decision to woo the comic to win Labour votes from his fans. Mr Miliband recorded an interview in the now-disgraced comedian's flat before the general election in 2015, when he was party leader.It was posted online as part of Brand's show The Trews, as he tried to win over young voters in his ultimately doomed attempt to become prime minister.At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mrs Badenoch attacked Mr Miliband – currently at the Cop31 environment summit in Turkey – over his refusal to approve the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea when he was energy secretary.'He called Rosebank 'climate vandalism', but then he also thought cosying up to Russell Brand would make him prime minister,' she added.'So, I don't think we need to trust his judgment.'Labour MPs shouted 'shame' in response to her remarks.Mrs Badenoch hit back: 'They're saying ''shame'', they're right - the Foreign Secretary should be ashamed'.Responding at PMQs, Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not address Mrs Badenoch's comments about Mr Miliband.He said: 'We will take a further decision on Rosebank in due course, as well as building a renewable energy future.'Downing Street later defended Mr Miliband, repeating Education Secretary Lucy Powell's assertion earlier this week that the interview took place a 'long time ago'.Ms Powell, who was vice chairwoman of Labour's election campaign in 2015, earlier this week said the recording took place in a 'different era' when Brand had a 'powerful platform'.She was ridiculed for saying 'We weren't in the social media age at the time' so it was hard to find out information about people, despite Mr Miliband doing the interview to benefit from Brand's social media following.Asked whether the Foreign Secretary should address his previous contact with the rapist comedian, the Prime Minister's political spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister was asked about this on Friday in an interview with the BBC.'As he said, it's not always the case that people know everything about people in public life, but what is important is where there is wrongdoing, it is exposed.'The PM also praised the bravery of the victims, saying credit to the victims, huge credit for the courage it's taken, but also for the journalists that have exposed this.'Asked whether Mr Burnham had asked Mr Miliband for an explanation of his contact with Brand, which took place after he had been sacked from his BBC Radio 2 show for leaving a series of lewd messages on actor Andrew Sachs's answerphone about a romantic liaison with his granddaughter, the spokesman pointed to Ms Powell's remarks earlier in the week.How did Russell Brand become a predator? 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