Ed Miliband event scrambled by egg protest
By Adam Bienkov
Ed Miliband was pelted with eggs today as he sought to move on from a difficult two weeks for his leadership.
Cycle courier Dean Porter hurled the eggs at the Labour leader as he walked through East Street Market in south London, hitting at least one journalist in the process.
Porter told reporters that he was angry about Labour failing to speak up for poor people or deal with homelessness. Helater told LBC radio that "this was not about me attacking Ed Miliband on a personal level. It's that he is part of the system."
Miliband was in the middle of a campaign visit to highlight what he called the "cost of living crisis" presided over by the government.
He later sought to make light of the incident telling reporters that "I'm always looking for new ways to connect with the voters".
He also tweeted that he had received a warm welcome at the market which he would "recommend… for easy availability of eggs".
Other Labour figures were less forgiving this afternoon with former egging victim John Prescott repeatedly calling on the police to investigate the "assault" on Miliband.
Telegraph sketchwriter Michael Deacon, who was also hit by the shower of eggs, was more relaxed about the incident, writing that: "On the whole, Ed Miliband had a mixed afternoon. On the negative side, a man in the street threw eggs at him. On the positive side, they mostly hit me instead."
