Miliband argues Labour is still party of working class Britain after Emily Thornberry Twitter snobbery gaffe
Embattled Labour leader Ed Miliband has come out fighting to persuade the nation Labour is still the party of Britain's working class.
In an article for the Daily Mirror, Miliband attempted to counter the perception the Labour party is run by a metropolitan London based middle-class elite.
The piece comes in the wake of a disastrous tweet by former shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry on the Rochester campaign trail that was widely seen as a display of snobbery.
Thornberry tweeted a picture of a house with several England flags and a white van parked in the driveway with the caption "Image from #Rochester". She subsequently resigned on the night of the Rochester by-election after a barrage of criticism on social media, the press and even from Labour colleagues.
Miliband was reported to be furious at Thornberry's Twitter blunder and writes today:
Respect is the basic rule of politics, and there is nothing unusual or odd about having England flags in your window.
The answer to the feeling of loss of important aspects of Britain's past, Miliband argues:
Is not to return to a more unequal, more unjust past" but "to go out and fight for what we believe in.
He went on to attack Ukip's stance on the NHS and pledged to challenge Nigel Farage's party at the general election. Thornberry faces stinging criticism from fellow Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who told the Daily Mail:
I think she was being derogatory and dismissive of the people. We all know what she was trying to imply.
I’ve talked about this previously. It’s like the Labour party has been hijacked by the north London liberal elite, and it’s comments like that which reinforce that view.
Ukip won the Rochester and Strood by-election by a comfortable margin but not by as much as had been forecast by pollsters. The Tories came second around 3,000 votes behind Ukip while Labour finished third.