Burnham says rape trials must not leave women feeling they are on trial

Speaking to Times Radio, the prime minister said the government needed to keep examining how rape trials are conducted so that women do not feel they are the ones on trial. He said he was prepared to make changes and wanted more women to come forward and report rape.

His comments followed the conviction of actor and comedian Russell Brand for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Brand was also found not guilty of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. He is due to be sentenced on Monday.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that what he had heard reported from the trial came close to “victim blaming”. During the trial, Brand’s defence barrister, Ian Winter KC, told the court that none of the complainants had “resisted or screamed or even tried to leave”.

Rowley backed Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman’s call for a legal duty requiring judges to direct juries in every rape trial about myths and misconceptions. Waxman said assumptions that victims must scream, physically resist or immediately report an offence were harmful.

Burnham said he would look closely at Rowley’s comments and, when asked about changing the law, said he “wouldn’t rule anything out”. The BBC reported that it understood there were no plans to change the law around rape trials. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told the Guardian that judges could already give directions to counter rape myths and that the department would carefully consider Waxman’s proposals.

Barrister and former Conservative MP Anna Soubry challenged Rowley’s comments, telling the BBC that judges must and do give firm directions on these issues in such cases. A 2025 Law Commission report on England and Wales, however, concluded that directions on rape myths could be given more consistently and recommended further guidance.