London: Ed Miliband was facing a ferocious Labour backlash last night following a botched attempt to cosy up to Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper.

The Labour leader, who boasted of standing up to Murdoch during the phone hacking scandal, attempted to mend fences in the run-up to the next election by posing with a World Cup souvenir edition of the tabloid.

But the picture provoked anger among Labour activists, particularly in Liverpool, where the newspaper is boycotted due to its coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Miliband was forced to issue a humiliating apology yesterday, saying he was `very, very sorry’ for causing offence.

The apology came on a torrid day for the Labour leader on which he was attacked from all sides of the party over his `disastrous’ immigration policy and `divisive’ slogans, and a close aide warned that Labour was struggling for credibility.

His latest problems began when he was pictured holding a special edition of The Sun that was sent to millions of homes free to mark the start of the World Cup

Despite his apology, the storm showed no sign of dying down last night, with one Labour councillor in Liverpool quitting the party and local MPs warning Miliband he was wrong to have even considered the stunt.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg posed for similar pictures and also faced criticism, but the most hostile response was reserved for Mr Miliband, who was accused of betrayal.

Liverpool councillor Martin Cummins quit the party, saying: `Seeing Ed promoting The Sun has rocked me to my core.’

The city’s Labour mayor, Joe Anderson, said: `For the leader of the Labour Party to make such an offensive gesture insults not only me but every person in the city.

`This is just another example of how out of touch the politicians in their ivory towers are from the lives of ordinary people.’

Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram said he welcomed the apology but that Miliband should not have allowed himself to be pictured with the newspaper in the first place.

Even members of Labour’s front bench team were critical. Shadow health minister Luciana Berger welcomed his apology, but her notably unsympathetic statement read: “When asked to pose for a picture to support the England football team at the World Cup, Mr Miliband agreed. He has today apologised.”

In a statement yesterday, a Labour spokesman insisted that Miliband had not meant to cause offence.

`Ed Miliband was promoting England’s bid to win the World Cup and is proud to do so,’ a spokesman said.

`But he understands the anger that is felt towards The Sun over Hillsborough by many people and he is sorry to those who feel offended.’

The apology capped a dismal day for the party leader.

His new slogan `Hardworking Britain Better Off’ was condemned as ‘divisive’ at a meeting of Labour’s ruling national Executive Committee (NEC). NEC member Ann Black said a poll she conducted of more than 200 party members found that 98 per cent `hated’ it because it appeared to criticise the unemployed.

She said activists described the slogan as `divisive, meaningless’ and `sounding like a Tory slogan’.

On immigration, senior Labour MP John Mann said that the `metropolitan elite’ had no idea about its impact on the lives of ordinary people.

He accused Miliband and other members of the leadership of living `different lives to the voters whose support they need’. He said the Labour leadership was `reluctant to recognise the downsides’ of mass immigration.