Ed Miliband’s claim to have “stood up” to powerful figures such as newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch drew a stinging response from the News Corp chairman.
“Thanks for 2 mentions, Ed Miliband. Only met once for all of 2 minutes when you embarrassed me with over the top flattery,” he posted on Twitter, following the Labour leader’s TV grilling.
Mr Miliband told Jeremy Paxman: “The thing I’ve learnt most in this job is to be yourself. That’s what I am.
Thanks for 2 mentions, Ed Miliband. Only met once for all of 2 minutes when you embarrassed me with over the top flattery.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) March 26, 2015
“People have to decide – do they want my ideas, do they want my principles when I stood up not just to President Obama, but Rupert Murdoch, the energy companies, the banks, fighting for ordinary people, which is what I believe in and what I came into politics for?”
Thanks to everyone who watched tonight. We saw the choice on May 7th: Cameron can't defend his record, I will fight for working families.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) March 26, 2015
Mr Miliband’s wife Justine has revealed that she felt “pretty nervy” about the decision by her husband to take on Mr Murdoch’s newspapers in the wake of the Milly Dowler phone hacking revelations.
“I remember not being quite sure how it would all play out, but I thought, ‘You have shown you have got the guts to do things that people wouldn’t expect’,” she told the BBC.