BBC News - Daily Mail exec demands apology over anti-semitism claims 4 October 2013 Last updated at 12:07 Ed Miliband: "They need to take a long hard look at the culture and practices" The Daily Mail will not say sorry to Ed Miliband over its attack on his late father, one of the paper's senior journalists has said. City editor Alex Brummer told the BBC the paper was owed an apology over claims that its Ralph Miliband articles were motivated by anti-semitism. Mr Miliband sought to distance himself from the anti-semitism claims. But he renewed his demand for the paper's owner Lord Rothermere to investigate its culture and practices. Lord Rothermere has apologised to Mr Miliband for a Mail on Sunday reporter intruding on a family memorial service. But he stopped short of saying sorry for a feature branding Marxist academic Ralph Miliband "The man who hated Britain" or agreeing to a wider inquiry into the way his newspapers operate. Not anti-semitic Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Brummer strongly defended the Daily Mail's original article, which questioned how far Ralph Miliband's left wing views had influenced his son. He said: "I don't think we need to apologise for anything. This was a piece which examined somebody's views very carefully. He hit out at suggestions from the Jewish Chronicle, Labour figures and others that there may have been "a whiff of anti-semitism" about the coverage. "I think there are people out there who need to apologise to us because there have been vicious accusations in the last couple of days, from (former Labour leader) Neil Kinnock among others, that somehow this was an anti-semitic attack," he said. The Daily Mail's Alex Brummer: "I hear from the editors each day that they make sure that stories are obtained in the proper way" Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 5Live he was not suggesting the paper was anti-semitic. "I'm always incredibly careful about throwing around the idea that the paper or somebody is anti-semitic or racist unless there is real evidence for that," he said. I don't believe that of the Mail, that's not been my issue. He said that while the newspaper was entitled to hold him to account for his views, the way it had attacked his father was unacceptable. Crossing a line They'll criticise me, they'll say my policies are wrong, that's absolutely fine. But when it comes to my dad, and saying my dad hated Britain, I'm afraid they're crossing a line," he said. In all of this, they've never apologised for the fact they said my dad hated Britain - an idea without any foundation. Mr Miliband said Lord Rothermere now "has a responsibility to take a long hard look" at the way his papers are run. He said: "I hope what Lord Rothermere will do is look at the wider culture and practices at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, because I don't think it's an isolated incident. I'm interested in other families, not in public life, who've had similar experiences. While acknowledging the Daily Mail - which has a circulation of more than 1.8 million - was a "popular" newspaper, he suggested many of its readers agreed with him that it had "overstepped the mark." Mail on Sunday editor Geordie Greig said a reporter had been sent to a service for Mr Miliband's uncle without his knowledge and an investigation was being held into "a decision which was wrong." Dacre meetings Mr Miliband told 5Live he had met the Daily Mail's editor Paul Dacre "two or three times" since becoming Labour leader. He said: "My personal dealings with him have been absolutely professional. Sometimes we've disagreed about issues: We've disagreed about press standards, but sometimes we've agreed on some issues. The row comes days before a crucial meeting of MPs next Wednesday on press regulation. They will consider proposals for a press royal charter with a new regulator to replace the Press Complaints Commission. The plan is backed by the country's largest newspaper groups, including Mail publisher DMG Media, News UK, owner of the Sun and the Times, Telegraph Media Group and Trinity Mirror. Mr Miliband supports an alternative plan, backed by the three main political parties and press intrusion victims campaign group Hacked Off, for a form of press regulation backed by royal charter. In his Today programme interview, Mr Brummer defended the Mail's journalistic methods, saying it was "extraordinarily careful" about how it pursued a story. He said: "I hear the editor, I hear the deputy editor almost every day saying to reporters, saying to editors of their sections 'be careful how you go about getting a particular story'. That's a practice which goes to the core of the paper, and I do think there are some good ethical roots in the paper and this is the exception rather than the rule.