To think that smearing a politician through his dead father is taking political debate too far?

[pointythings]

Yes, of course we have a free press. That's great. But smearing a politician you don't agree with by hanging an entire article on something his dead father wrote when he was an angry 17-year-old is just beyond distasteful. Attack the man's part and his politics, that is part of robust and free political debate, but leave a dead man out of it.I'm looking at you, Daily Mail.

I hope that papers on the other side of the political spectrum won't follow suit, although there is probably a wealth worth of sh*t to be dug up on the parents of current Conservative, Lib Dem and UKIP politicians...

I am that it has come to this, and I am naive to have thought that even the Daily Mail would not stoop so low.

YANBU and its the mail all over for you. If I remember correctly they pulled up something on Cleggs family in the last election campaign so they've got form.

DM attack has really backfired. Of course EM's father was an angry 17 yo - he'd escaped from the Nazis ffs. He was hardly going to be auditioning for the X Factor. It just shows the DM's parochial small-mindedness that they have done this. Hate them.

YANBU and their response today is also unbelievable. Disgraceful journalism.

I'm a hack - NOT for the Mail, in quite a different kind of job - and normally comments about 'disgraceful journalism' make me yawn* but in this case I have to agree.

• Because most times it's perfectly legitimate, just something the poster has a personal beef with.