Labour Defends Miliband's 'Rude' WWI Wreath

Labour has been forced to defend Ed Miliband for not writing a personal message on a World War One commemoration wreath.

David Cameron hand-wrote a tribute but cards from Mr Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg merely stated their job titles, prompting online criticism.

A Labour spokesman said: "Ed Miliband was not given the opportunity to write a personal message on the wreath and was only handed it seconds before."

A source close to Nick Clegg said the wreath was handed to him "seconds before he laid it and there was no opportunity to do anything differently."

The three party leaders paid tribute to those who served in World War I during a ceremony at Glasgow's Cenotaph to mark the 100th anniversary of Britain entering the war.

A note attached to a wreath laid by the Prime Minister read: "Your most enduring legacy is our liberty. We must never forget."

In contrast, the card supplied to Mr Miliband said only "From the Leader of the Opposition" and Mr Clegg's said "From the Deputy Prime Minister."

Twitter users had accused the Labour leader of not being "bothered" about signing the wreath and being "insensitive" to those who lost their lives in the First World War.

Former Tory MP Louise Mensch tweeted: "I am stunned by Ed Miliband's WWI centenary wreath message, which is arrogant, disrespectful and just plain rude."

A spokeswoman for Poppy Scotland said: "Our normal procedure is that we would just send the cards directly with the wreaths.

"We were asked to send [the cards] to the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and the wreaths were sent through to Glasgow in advance, but the blank cards to London."