Sports Direct responds to Miliband's 'Victorian practices' jibe

Sports Direct has dismissed claims by Labour leader Ed Miliband, who claimed that the retail giant was a ‘terrible employer’ and compared its use of zero-hour contracts to ‘Victorian practices’.

A spokesman for the firm seemed nonplussed by the criticism, telling the BBC: “With enemies like these, who needs friends?”

Claiming that 17,000 of its 20,000-strong workforce are on zero-hours contracts, Miliband singled out Sports Direct in a speech to the University of Warwick.