Russell Brand and Dalai Lama share platform on peace

Comic Russell Brand is to share a stage with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Brand will act as master of ceremonies when the 76-year-old addresses thousands of young people in Manchester next week.

The former BBC radio presenter has been a vocal supporter of the Tibetan cause, often peppering his Radio 2 show with cries of “free Tibet”.

The Dalai Lama, who established the Tibetan Government in Exile in northern India’s Dharamsala, is delivering a talk at the MEN Arena a week on Saturday. Admission is free to those under the age of 25.

The spiritual leader will call for young people to push for peace during the address, which is entitled “Century of Dialogue – Stand Up And Be The Change”.

The leader’s representative for northern Europe, Thubten Samdup, said: “We are delighted to have Russell Brand as master of ceremonies for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Russell has demonstrated the power of spirituality to effect change in his own life. His holiness the Dalai Lama believes it is essential to inspire ordinary citizens – especially young people – to find meaning and purpose in their lives.”

The Sky Atlantic channel announced this week that it would be screening the US-made Brand X – Brand’s first series on British TV in four years .

He resigned from his Radio 2 show in 2008 over broadcast phone calls made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, in which co-host Jonathan Ross informed the elderly actor that Brand claimed he had slept with Sachs’ granddaughter, Georgina Baillie,.