Ed Miliband hits back at Daily Mail father ‘smear’
A bitter war of words has erupted between Labour leader Ed Miliband and the Daily Mail after the paper published an editorial which said his father ‘hated Britain’.
The title, famous for its right wing views, is accused by the politician of ‘smearing’ his father, who fought on the Allied side during the WWII.
Mail editor Paul Dacre has refused to back down in the row however, despite agreeing to publish Miliband’s rebuttal, which read: "On Saturday, the Daily Mail chose to publish an article about him under the banner headline 'The Man Who Hated Britain.' It's part of our job description as politicians to be criticised and attacked by newspapers, including the Daily Mail. It comes with the territory. The British people have great wisdom to sort the fair from the unfair. And I have other ways of answering back.
"But my Dad is a different matter. He died in 1994. I loved him and he loved Britain. And there is no credible argument in the article or evidence from his life which can remotely justify the lurid headline and its accompanying claim that it would 'disturb everyone who loves this country'.
“I know they say 'you can't libel the dead' but you can smear them.”
An unapologetic Mail continues to stand by the original piece however, accusing Miliband senior of an ‘evil legacy’.