A lot of questions will need to be answered by broadcasters, according to Government Minister James Cleverly over allegations made against comedian Russell Brand.

Russell Brand has faced rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse allegations after a joint investigation by The Times newspaper and Channel 4 programme Dispatches.

The comedian and vlogger has denied the "very serious criminal allegations" against him with the star claiming that his relationships were "always consensual".

Speaking of the Russell Brand allegations on BBC One current affairs programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: "I think there are some real challenges where you have these very, very acute differentials in power, whether that be in the entertainment industry, whether that be in politics, and we see this in the commercial world as well."

'A lot of questions' need answered by broadcasters over Russell Brand rape allegations 

"I think we have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless because we, I think collectively, have missed opportunities to do the right thing and intervene much, much earlier, and we've got to be better at this," he added.

The full investigation was published on The Times website and through an hour-and-a-half-long Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 which aired on Saturday night.

When asked if there are questions for the entertainment sector over the allegations, Mr Cleverly said: "Sadly, I think there are."

This comes after The Times' media editor Rosamund Urwin, who worked on the investigation, told BBC Radio 4 that there were "a lot of questions to be answered" by TV broadcasters.

She added:  "I think in the coming days we will see a lot more scrutiny, including in our paper, of who knew what when, and why on earth this man was continuing to go on Channel 4 shows as late as 2018/2019 when there certainly were widespread rumours that would have at least needed investigating before you put him on your channel."

Russell Brand recently appeared for a gig at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London after addressing the allegations on his YouTube channel.