Ed Miliband’s love affair with The Sun has ended almost as soon as it had begun. Following reports that he was ‘very very sorry’ for endorsing the newspaper, the Labour leader appears to have u-turned under pressure from his own party. A Labour spokesperson said this afternoon:
‘Ed Miliband was promoting England’s bid to win the World Cup and is proud to do so. But he understands the anger that is felt towards The Sun over Hillsborough by many people in Merseyside and he is sorry to those who feel offended.’
As I wrote yesterday, Miliband’s pro-Sun position was at odds with many of of his own MPs (as well as his own anti-Murdoch campaign) who had been tweeting negative comments about The Sun throughout the day. Along with Tom Watson, Steve Rotheram, the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, was probably the most concerned and suggested yesterday evening that some form of apology was on the cards:
Back home now. I’ve seen the twitter feed & understand the outpouring of anger. Met with the Leader/MPs earlier who listened to our concerns
— Steve Rotheram (@SteveRotheramMP) June 12, 2014
Ed will make a statement on the matter. He never meant any offence, but in my opinion it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
— Steve Rotheram (@SteveRotheramMP) June 12, 2014
By posing with the paper and then apologising, Ed has created an unnecessary media storm. Aside from the sheer bizarreness of the picture, it’s another example of his difficult relationship with the press. For one thing, it’s now pretty certain that Labour can not expect a warm relationship with The Sun between now and next year’s election.
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