Ed Miliband pays tribute to former New Statesman and Scotsman journalist Kirsty Milne

Labour leader Ed Miliband has paid tribute to journalist Kirsty Milne, who died earlier this month.

Writing in the Guardian, Miliband said Milne “was a very special” and “profoundly decent and good person”.

Milne, the daughter of former BBC director general Alasdair, died of cancer at the age of 49 two weeks ago. She worked for 10 years at the New Statesman and its predecessor the New Society before becoming a political columnist with The Scotsman.

She became an academic in 2003 when she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard University, where she met Miliband.

He wrote: “It was an extraordinary privilege to meet someone who was so passionate about life and the world of ideas, as well as so loyal to the people who were friends.

“Kirsty did that most difficult of things, changing career in her 40s, directed to do so by her passions and interests.”

Miliband praised “her determination” in finishing her doctorate, which will be published as a book next year, while in remission from cancer.

He added: “Kirsty was a very special person. She was ferocious in argument, certain of her principles, and a profoundly decent and good person. I will remember her infectious laugh and her deeply held values.”