David Miliband has criticised the Daily Mail’s attacks on his late father, calling the coverage “hateful”.

The former foreign secretary, who is now based in New York as CEO of the International Rescue Committee, told Channel Four News: “It is hateful when you have your father traduced in that way. There is no question about that.

“But I also have a very strong feeling that the good sense of the British people is to sort out that kind of tarring of someone from the truth.”

The older brother of Labour leader Ed Miliband said he hoped “the right lessons are learned” following Geoffrey Levy’s scathing article on Ralph Miliband in the Daily Mail earlier this month.

The article, which claimed Mr Miliband was a vehement Marxist who hated Britain, sparked intense an backlash and protests outside the newspaper's offices.

The Labour leader defended his father in the paper, while questions were raised as to whether the article held antisemitic undertones.

David Miliband joked last night: “Frankly, I never thought I’d see so many pictures of my dad in his naval uniform staring out from TV shows and from newspapers.”

He added: “The important thing for me is that he was an incredibly loving dad who meant a huge amount to me and obviously to Ed and my mother as well.”