Ed Miliband turns to comedy over 'kitten killer dad' slur

Ed Miliband joked that he will battle the Sunday Sport over the 'cat killer' story. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Ed Miliband has recorded a tongue-in-cheek video message in which he reads aloud from a Sunday Sport newspaper article that claimed his father drunkenly murdered a kitten.

The Labour leader pledges to "battle" the publication over the "scurrilous" story, in which a woman accuses Ralph Miliband of mowing down her cat Winston on his bicycle during the Second World War.

Miliband reads from the article: "He barrelled into Winston squashing him flat, then carried on as if nothing had happened. I am convinced that man was Ralph Miliband. Only a Belgian Communist could have killed a kitten in cold blood.”

The politician, who breaks into laughter towards the end of the video, recorded the clip as his acceptance speech for a Spectator magazine award for speech of the year.

The mischievous Sunday Sport piece was published earlier this month in the wake of a Daily Mail article that accused Ralph Miliband of "hating Britain."

More: Labour demand apology over Daily Mail article on Ralph Miliband