New low for Times under John Witherow with ludicrous splash today. #torymouthpiece

— Labour Press Team (@labourpress) November 22, 2013

Dissent will not be tolerated. Ever since Ed’s deliberate war with the Mail over a mere headline, any story that displeases the Labour Party is billed a smear or an attack on Miliband without substance. It’s a deliberate strategy to try to hamstring the coming media onslaught in the run up to the next election. By billing Ed as some self-appointed moral media guardian who is only being attacked because of his stance of standing up to the press, they hope to blunt the multitude of legitimate blows. In reality, it’s just another attempt by a worried party that has a penchant for strong-arming the media. Labour should save the word “smear” for a morning when one of their donors and advisers hasn’t just been nicked.

UPDATE: 

Further to last Tweet, Times has twice splashed in last fortnight worrying about A&E crisis + IDS' Universal Credit. ToryHQ didn't complain.

— Tim Montgomerie ن (@montie) November 22, 2013

UPDATE II: Worth noting a Miliband flunky retweeted the tweet on his behalf, so Ed is fully behind the shoot the messenger strategy.