Russell Brand willing to die for revolution: 'There's no point doing it if you're not'

The comedian first set out his impassioned call for political reform in an online essay for the New Statesman, published in 2013

Russell Brand at an anti-austerity march in June (Getty)

Russell Brand – last seen being threatened with arrest outside of Fox News HQ in New York – has added to his own revolutionary fervour by confirming that he is indeed willing to die for his cause.

The comedian first set out his impassioned call for political reform in an online essay for the New Statesman, published in November 2013.

In it, he criticised the "existing Westminster framework" and declared that he had never voted because he was utterly disenchanted by modern politics and regarded modern politicians as "frauds and liars".

"Total revolution of consciousness and our entire social, political and economic system is what interests me, but that’s not on the ballot," he wrote, before questioning, "Is utopian revolution possible?"

Asked by Time Out whether he felt his utopian ideal was worth giving up his life for, he told them: "There’s no point doing it if you’re not.

"If they say, ‘We’ll kill you if you keep saying this,’ and then you go, ‘Oh, all right, I’ll do a podcast about ballbags,’ then don’t bother."

He added that revolutionaries didn’t need to die for the cause, but observantly pointed out that people are going to die at some point anyway, whether they are involved in reform or not.

"We’re all in the death seat," he continued. "We’re all waiting. It’s coming."

His most recent interview comes after Brand was criticised by Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, fashion’s original anarchist, for telling young people not to vote.

"You have to vote, you have to make a change," said Lydon. "You’re given lousy options, yes, but that's better than nothing at all."

He said that not voting was "damn ignorant", adding that the comedian was "preaching his views from his mansion" and would "make you all homeless".

"What I said was, 'There's nothing worth voting for.' That's why I don't vote," Brand countered during an episode of The Trews last week.

"If there was someone worth voting for, I'd vote for it and I'd encourage other people if they think that there is a political party that represents their views; if they think there are politicians that are speaking on their behalf, by all means vote for them."

"It’s a complicated issue," he continued, "and I can see why John Lydon might have trouble to get that in a tiny little interview space particularly when he’s got to promote a show about bugs."

Brand also joined Occupy Wall Street protestors last week, telling the crowd that he was "dedicated and devoted to change" and said that his own rise to fame and money had led him to see that capitalism was "not the answer".