Is Red Ed Fair Game For The Mail Here?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24343074
I don't think so, even if his dad was a raving marxist it does not justify using that to knock Ed.

[emmie]

gromit,
can't find info as to why Paul Dacre's father didn't go to war, plenty of people didn't, some were down as conscientious objectors, some not fit for duty, so there is no knowledge that i can see as to why he didn't fight in WW2, but his father did in WW1, does that help...

[Kromovaracun]

"not sure why this should be such a big deal."

Oh, come on. Seriously?

The Mail has taken a journal entry from when Miliband's dad was 17, and accused him of "hating Britain" (despite the fact that he fought for the UK in WW2 and spent most of his life here). That's quite a serious smear - it's a very nasty thing to say about someone, especially when there's precious little evidence for it.

And what's worse is, even if it were true, the Mail are using this to smear Ed Miliband by proxy. They have so few real arguments, such little intellectual integrity, that this is what they are forced to resorting to. And they are still taken seriously as a source of informaiton.

"don't the papers, news and some on AB go on and on about tory posh boys all coming from well to do families"

This isn't really something I'm comfortable saying myself (because like you I don't think it's really valid) but smearing someone's dead father by putting words in his mouth just so it suits your political agenda against that person is several orders of magnitude worse.

[ChillDoubt]

Very brave of Dacre to send his lackey in to face the music.

It'd be funny if he fell on his sword on the day that Dodgy Dave makes his keynote speech.

Fingers crossed.

[jno]

why does it matter why Peter Dacre didn't go to war, emmie? The fact is, Ralph Miliband, the well known Britain hater, risked his life for Britain and Dacre Snr did not.

[jno]

incidentally, it's worth pointing out that the Mail has had it in for Ralph Miliband since before he even reached Britain

http://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/0/75/13/81/201310/ob_9ef5e6_german-jews-pouring-into-this-country.jpg

[emmie]

but in case you didn't notice they didn't kill 6 million of them, that was down to someone else. And the reason that Israel was set up was to not go through another holocaust, Jews for no reason i can understand have seemingly not been accepted over thousands of years, perhaps for a time they are, when it suits their countrymen or adopted country, then they have become a whipping boy, it's not a good or nice thing, but it has happened over a very long period of time.

[emmie]

and anti Semitism is still here and in just about every country you can think of.

[jno]

the Mil didn't kill Jews, emmie, they just wanted them to stay in Germany ... where someone else would do it.

The Mail is however still protesting about aliens flooding into the country, so the xenophobia hasn't died out.

[emmie]

what happens then if its to your own party members, you smear them, their families, talk, gossip of their drug, gambling and mental health problems to get your chap into the hot seat, people like Mandelson, Cambell and indeed the latest hero Damien McBride. No DM to blame for that, they do that and more all by themselves.

[LazyGun]

Are you trying to defend the DMs actions, wrt the Milibands father story Emmie? f you are - why? And if you are not trying to defend the DM - why are you bringing McBride into this discussion?

Because there is absolutely no parallel between Mcbrides actions whilst spin doctor, and this attack by the DM on the dead father of Ed Miliband, with its spiteful and vindictive comments regarding hatred of country and evil legacy.

There is absolutely no parallel, no mitigation whatsoever between the 2 stories.

[Gromit]

// the latest hero Damien McBride //

What? You're a bit behind the times if you think McBride is a latest hero. He was sacked in 2009. The only reason you have heard of this grubby man is because your grubby newspaper of choice has paid him £100,000 for his story.

If ypu buy the Daily Mail, you are lining McBrides pockets.

[ludwig]

To be fair gromit, that's not the only reason we've heard of the grubby man McBride. It's mainly because Gordon Brown employed him to do grubby work such as smearing his political rivals. He wouldn't have a story to sell if that hadn't been the case.

Regarding Miliband, I hadn't realised the Mail had gone to town on this and given it the whole two page centre spread treatment.
It's not for nothing this paper is regarded as a joke, and it's very name a byword for the obnoxious right wing gutter press. Happily this seems to have backfired on them massively.

[Gromit]

Emmie,

That sounds like shifting the goalposts. We are talking about what fathers did and didn't do, not grandfathers. If we were talking about Grandfathers we can remind ourselves that the then Lord Rothemere (Grandfather of the present one) supported Mosely's Hitler supporting facists.

[Gromit]

Ludwig

Brown had McBride as his political fixer. A bruiser who would get things done like Campbell and Maneldon had been for his Tonyness.

However, when McBride overstepped the line Brown sacked him.

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// Typical Daily Mail. Even Dave thought it was wrong to have a go at Ed, by denigrating his father. ///

/// Attack a man for HIS beliefs, not his fathers ///

A selection of quotes from a recent thread on tax breaks for married couples.

*** always good to hear from Nigella's brother, I wonder if his sister's given him her opinion of the importance of marriage? ***

*** Dominic is himself on his second marriage.***

*** Their father Nigel Lawson has been divorced twice. ***

*** Not really a good pedigree to be promoting the virtues of marriage. ***

Seems it is quite in order to bring in a columnist's sister's and father's marriage record, the hight of hypocrisy it seems.

[Zeuhl]

dear o dear aog

are you being deliberately obtuse or just enjoy flogging a dead horse?

there is ample evidence that Dominic, Nigella and Nigel Lawson have multiple marriages (and they're all still around to defend themselves)

The Daily Fail besmirched the late Ralph Milliband by accusing him of 'HATING BRITAIN'

with no credible evidence at all

You see one is TRUE

The other is a LIE

though I appreciate the ability to distinguish between them is probably impaired by regular reading of the rags in question

[janbee]

I'm no fan of Ed M., but the DM are well and truly out of order here. They should apologise, retract their tripe and make a generous donation to a charity of the Miliband family's choosing. Shame on the DM. The DM will do none of that though. Their hubris knows no bounds.

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

/// If Milliband senior did dislike Britain, it wouls still be a disgraceful way to attack his son Ed. ///

And wasn't it you who attacked the columnist Dominic Lawson's Dad?

/// Their father Nigel Lawson has been divorced twice. ///

[Gromit]

AOG

The facts about the Lawsons' marital status' is not in dispute. They are proven facts with legal divorce documents to prove it.

They are not dead, so if there is a mistake they can sue.

Noting that Nigel Lawson has been divorced twice is not a criticism of Nigel Lawson, or Nigella. Those are facts which demonstrate the hypocrisy of the writer.

The Mail made up a story (nothing new there) and is now digging itself a deeper hole every day. They should just apologise and move on, the damage they intended to Milliband has already been done.

[Zeuhl]

^
How is that an attack?

It is a statement of fact

The Daily Fail was making things up about Ed M's father