by Tom Watson for Mirror.

In my last column, I had a dig at Russell Brand for not voting.

The comedian seemed to forget the ballot box is the only power millions of Britons have left in these tough times.

I told him to stop whingeing about politicians and instead use his celebrity to help his fellow countrymen. 

Well this week Brand has shown that he’s not just another ‘all talk, no action’ bigmouth.

He’s gone right up in my estimation by showing his support for ordinary people and their rights.

First, Brand gave his backing to the People’s Assembly and the ‘hacktivists’ who protested outside Parliament on Guy Fawkes Day.

Many on the march were deeply concerned about civil liberties - and with good reason.

The fact spy chiefs have been tapping into the private data of millions of citizens has left most of us (me included) feeling uneasy.

These revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden have created a political crisis around the globe.

The President of Brazil cancelled a state visit to Washington.

The Chancellor of Germany has sent a team to the USA to get to the truth about having her own phone hacked.

The French parliament has expressed deep concerns about the USA spying on Internet traffic.

But in the UK we’ve barely heard a whisper from our top politicians. Why is this? After all, we are the country of freedom and liberty.

We’re also the country where George Orwell wrote in his famous book Nineteen Eighty-Four the line: “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”

Could it be the Snowden revelations are so shocking our politicians can’t own up to the fact they’re happening?

They’re hiding our country’s guilty secret from themselves rather than dealing with the issue head on.

Well not quite. Pressure from activists like Brand and others has forced Parliament to act.

Last week we held our first debate on scrutiny of our security services. And today MPs will question chiefs of the intelligence agencies in public for the first time at the Intelligence and Security Committee.

These are only baby steps in Parliament’s attempts to get to the truth. It’s not enough, but it’s progress.

Russell Brand did something else this week that impressed. He helped promote a new documentary by director Robert Greenwald about America’s drone wars.

The film Unmanned tells the story of the US government’s unlawful killings of people far from any battlefield.

These are executions carried out on the basis of vague and shifting legal standards and evidence never presented to any court, even after the killing.

David Killcullen, a former senior adviser to US General David Petraeus, says on film that the political destabilisation created by the drones programme “makes us less safe.”

The film is controversial. It is undeniably challenging America’s right to kill in the name of the War on Terror. It won’t be shown at the local cinema or on the telly.

Yet you can see it online for free thanks to the work of people like Jemima Khan, who is helping to promote the film.

I’d like to know how our spy chiefs are involved with the drone’s programme. Don’t hold your breath for an answer too soon.

Russell Brand is right: you deserve more from your democratic system.