Every now and then, TV IS GOD, throws you a bone and last night was one of those nights.
Last night BBC Question Time devoted a considerable amount of time to the recent Daily Mail attacks on Ed Miliband’s father Ralph. They have decided to label Miliband’s late father as an enemy of that state because he dared to write (as a 17-year-old) that Britain could do with being taught a lesson about empire by losing the war. He went on to serve with the Royal Navy and was there at Normandy. Very much a hero for the very freedom of expression I am enjoying right now. Let us not forget that the empire that Britain has desperately fought to protect over the years was built on the blood, bones and tears of people deemed to either be weaker, less human or less important than ourselves and we called ourselves “the motherland”.
The Daily Mail however, as the self-appointed conscience of the UK, decided to take an opportunity to throw mud at Ed Miliband by disgracefully attacking the memory of his father and Quentin Letts, who works for the Daily Mail was mid-flow explaining it was a fair political comment when Mehdi Hasan asked the question: “Who really hates Britain” What followed was one of the most brilliant pieces of television I’ve seen since Alessio Rastani told the BBC that Goldman Sachs ruled the world and that they did not care about us. The endorphin rush I received at that point was worth every minute of staying up for. I had just had a battle with myself on whether I could stomach Question Time and thanks to Hasan I am glad I did.
The Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere courted Hitler in the build up to the war, counting Mussolini as his friend too. They may not have been the only title who printed pro fascist pieces in the 1930’s but for some context on the absurd attack that the Mail have engaged in over Ed Miliband’s, it is priceless.
The Daily Mail loved to tell us of the ‘scum’ dancing around our streets following the death of Margaret Thatcher and have used this is a way of justifying what they are doing with Ed Miliband. What confuses me more is that the very people that tend to read this paper are the very people it hates the most, working class people, that they manage to help convince everyday that they are middle class and above the strife we face on daily basis.
As Mehdi put it, they hate women, bait gay people, smear Muslim’s, encourage the vote for fascists in France, called Mo Farrah a plastic Brit and poured scorn on Danny Boyle for having a mixed race couple during the Olympic opening ceremony. Who hates Britain? The Daily Mail.
Related articles
- Daily Mail overflowing with bile about Britain, Nick Clegg says (theguardian.com)
- Thatcher ally accuses Daily Mail of ‘telling lies’ about Ralph Miliband (theguardian.com)
- My dad loved Britain, says Ed Miliband as he hits back at Daily Mail (standard.co.uk)
- Prescott: Miliband fought Nazis as Mail supported them (itv.com)