Ed Miliband, the Labour leader often celebrated by his supporters for standing up to the big bad “vested interests” like banks, energy companies and the Murdoch empire, has posed with a picture of the Sun‘s special edition.
Here he is, awkwardly holding the Murdoch tabloid’s World Cup issue, 22m of which are being distributed around the country for free.
This Is Our England: Labour leader @Ed_Miliband backs today’s special edition. #DoUsProud pic.twitter.com/hk4ROIyLOH
— The Sun (@TheSunNewspaper) June 12, 2014
Even more awkward than his wooden pose is the fact that he’s been a voice of protest against Murdoch for a few years now. “That kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous,” he said in 2011, calling for the powerful media empire to be dismantled. “The Murdoch Empire must be broken up,” he cried in 2012, criticising the PM for his chumminess with the media baron. But then, “Ooh – a free football edition!” his haunted eyes whispered in 2014.
Also jarring is the fact that he told BuzzFeed a few weeks ago that he doesn’t read British newspapers. Perhaps that’s why he’s holding it as if it’s a piece of evidence from a crime scene. He doesn’t know how to open it.
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