UK to consider changing age of consent after Mia Latter's allegations against Russell Brand
The UK government has said it will consider calls to change the age of consent, the age at which the law treats a person as able to agree to sex, after Mia Latter waived her anonymity to allege that Russell Brand raped her when she was 16. Latter, now 37, has said the alleged assault occurred towards the end of a three-month relationship, when Brand was 30. Guardian reported the government's position on 15 November 2026.
Louise Haigh, who has been described as the de facto deputy prime minister, said Latter's "heart-breaking story" meant that a change to the age-of-consent law deserved consideration and scrutiny. Under current UK law, adults of any age can legally have sex with 16- and 17-year-olds. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Latter called for a staggered age of consent that would make relationships between adults and 16- and 17-year-olds illegal.
Latter says she first met Brand in Leicester Square, in central London, when she was 16. He was working at MTV at the time. She was previously referred to under the pseudonym Alice in reporting by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4's Dispatches documentary. When the Times first reported her allegations in 2023, Brand denied all of them.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the body that brings criminal cases, decided not to include Latter's case in Brand's trial at Southwark Crown Court. Brand was convicted over attacks against four of the six women who gave evidence against him. He is serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison term for one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
Separately, the Metropolitan Police are investigating a series of "serious" sex offence allegations against the author David Walliams. The allegations emerged from an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams, when she was 15, as "sexual assault". Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
Haigh also said the government should look at banning non-disclosure agreements, the legal contracts that stop people speaking publicly, in cases of alleged sexual assault and harassment. Her comments followed a report that one of Walliams's accusers was asked to sign such an agreement.
