Hit or Miss? - Ed Miliband uses The Sun to attack Tory crime policy

PR Week UK, Friday, 18 February 2011, 12:00am,

Tabloid turn New Labour may not have seen eye to eye with The Sun in recent years, but the party's leader this week turned to the pages of Britain's best-selling newspaper to get his message across.

The tabloid announced: 'Ed Miliband writes for The Sun for the first time as Labour leader - launching a stinging attack on David Cameron's Government.' Miliband's op-ed piece accused the PM of breaking promises on crime. HOW I SEE IT

Stefan Stern, Director of strategy, Edelman

Ed Miliband showed he had nerve when he challenged his heir-apparent brother for the Labour leadership. By offering The Sun a few paragraphs on crime he has displayed more of the right stuff.

For some on the Labour side, writing for a Murdoch paper is akin to supping with the devil. But Miliband and his advisers have cleverly got stuck in on an issue that matters to The Sun's readers. And he is speaking their language.

He said the Tories' approach was 'bluff on crime, bluff on the causes of crime - the worst kind of politics'. Cheesy, but effective.

More worrying for the Government, arguably, was the top leader headline 'Right said Ed' on the same page. If Wapping takes a shine to young Ed Miliband, Number 10 may be on the look-out for another ex-News International executive to sweet-talk them back.

HIT