Ed Miliband was under fire last night over a ‘sickening’ suggestion that the row over Tory links to tax avoidance could be another ‘Milly Dowler moment’ to be exploited for political gain. The toxic claim was made by one of the Labour leader’s most senior aides, as Mr Miliband tried to drive home his efforts to link Tory donors to the tax avoidance scandal involving clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Labour last night said the exact phrase ‘Milly Dowler moment’ had not been used, and said the only comparison between the issues was the way they had ‘crystallised’ public opinion. Scroll down for video . The Labour Party was accused last night of exploiting the murder of Milly Dowler, left, for political gain after a senior aide to Ed Miliband, right,  claimed the Tory tax row could provide another Milly Dowler moment . But critics said it was astonishing that Labour saw any link between the two and called for the aide involved to ‘resign immediately’. Mark Lewis, a solicitor who represented the Dowler family over phone hacking, last night condemned the intervention. He said: ‘It is rather inappropriate that someone would regard the hacking of a murdered schoolchild as a political opportunity rather than the tragedy it was.’ Tory MP Mark Garnier, a member of the Commons Treasury committee, described the comparison as ‘sickening’. He said: ‘I am genuinely shocked that anyone would make such an utterly distasteful and revolting comparison.’ The row erupted after BBC political editor Nick Robinson posted a message on Twitter saying: ‘The Labour leader’s aides say that he sees this as another Milly Dowler moment.’ Mr Robinson later stressed the comment – which emerged from a lunch with Mr Miliband’s chief spin doctor Tom Baldwin – was not a direct quote. A Labour spokesman said: ‘An official talked about how the news story on Milly Dowler crystallised what a lot of people thought about the Press. ‘And this tax avoidance story on HSBC crystallises what a lot of people thought about tax avoiders. The words “Milly Dowler moment” never cropped up.’ Tory MPs last night urged the Labour leader to sack Mr Baldwin, a former journalist. Philip Davies said: ‘Tom Baldwin, like his mentor Alastair Campbell, represents the ugly underbelly of Labour. ‘Baldwin’s actions are utterly unforgivable. He should resign immediately.’ Mr Baldwin declined to comment. Mr Miliband claimed the row with former Conservative treasurer Lord Fink was 'a defining moment' in the general election campaign . The controversy overshadowed the row between Mr Miliband and the former Tory treasurer Lord Fink over his tax affairs. On Wednesday, Lord Fink challenged the Labour leader over claims that he was involved in ‘tax avoidance activities’ after he was named as one of the clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Mr Miliband also appeared to suggest Lord Fink was a ‘dodgy’ donor. Lord Fink challenged Mr Miliband to repeat the claims outside the Commons – where he has protection from libel laws – saying he would sue him for defamation if he did. In a partial climbdown yesterday, Mr Miliband said he did not consider Lord Fink to be ‘dodgy’. Grocer's son who made £180 m - and gave away a fortune writes ANDREW PIERCE . Lord Stanley Fink  at the  Savoy Hotel, in London . He lives in a mansion in North London, owns a villa that he built and designed on a vast estate in Spain, and has a five-star hotel in the swish ski resort of Courchevel in France, complete with a dozen luxury apartments. Oh, and he’s worth £180million. Little wonder that Ed Miliband, the son of a Marxist, saw Lord Fink’s riches and the revelations about his tax affairs and his account with the Swiss bank HSBC as the opportunity of a political lifetime. So who exactly is Lord Fink? Where does his money come from? And how great is his influence in Tory circles? He is known as the Godfather of hedge funds after turning a humble commodities firm called the Man Group, which sold rum to the British navy, into the biggest fund in the world with assets of £80billion. He became chief executive of Man in 2000, successfully catching the rapidly-rising hedge-fund tide, and has given the Tories millions of pounds. A classic Conservative rags-to-riches success story, Fink, 57, is the son of a Manchester grocer who made money on the side by selling his own range of lampshades. He is the most successful of his siblings – one of his brothers trades computer parts from a garage, the other is a middle-manager for a car windscreen company. Fink went to Manchester grammar school and studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he entered the City working in accountancy firm Arthur Andersen and then Mars, before turning Man into the largest listed hedge fund company in the world – and the biggest money-making machine in the City for decades. He enjoys the trappings of success. His Alpine hotel, he says, ‘is the best of both worlds, having a private house with a Michelin chef. I go to the hotel bar and use the pool and the gym.’ The father of two grown-up sons and a daughter, he met his wife Barbara when they were both volunteers in an old people’s home. For their 25th wedding anniversary in 2006 he flew 200 of his family and friends to Spain. Each guest received a suede mock-up passport that opened up to reveal pictures of the happy couple through the years. He chartered two planes for a three-day party with the stipulation that the only bags allowed in the luggage hold were to be Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The celebration took place in the Ronda mountains behind Marbella on La Zagaleta estate, one of the world’s most exclusive golf clubs, which he owns. Fink has described the location, with its views to the Mediterranean, as ‘a place as close to paradise as I have witnessed’. His screen saver on his computer in London is a view of the La Zagaleta golf course. Prime Minister's Questions became so heated yesterday the Commons Speaker John Bercow was forced to intervene . But despite the riches, life has not been plain sailing. In 2004 he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour after he suffered a mild stroke while on safari in Botswana with his family. He had been struck dumb midway through a sentence. The tumour required immediate surgery and he spent three months recovering. A passionate champion of the NHS, after one of his children had been dangerously ill he raised millions of pounds for Evelina London Children’s Hospital which opened in 2005, the first purpose-built children’s hospital in London in 100 years and a landmark in paediatric medicine. ‘A sick child is a sick family,’ Fink said of his decision. After his own health scare he quit Man Group in 2007. The following year he surprised the City when he returned with a new hedge fund, ISAM. An even bigger surprise was his choice of business partner – Lord Levy who was Tony Blair’s financial fixer for more than a decade. Levy was so successful at raising money for Labour he was dubbed Lord Cashpoint. Fink can, of course, always seek advice from Levy – who himself was accused of avoiding tax – over his current fix. When Blair was accused of selling honours for cash, Levy was twice interviewed by the police. No action was ever taken. Fink’s new hedge fund has offices in Australia, Dubai, New York and the tax- friendly Cayman Islands, and assets of more than £1billion. Unlike Levy he has always been a passionate Tory. He became a Tory after working as a student in a paper factory in Bury. While there, he developed a new method of generating more orders for the company. After a couple of days he was taken aside by a trade union shop steward and told this was ‘very unhelpful because there were people who weren’t able to pick orders at quite the same rate’. Fink was appalled. ‘It was a great shame because clearly my way was better for the company,’ he said. ‘I saw a negative side of trade unions. That hardened my views.’ Having served for two years as Tory treasurer, Fink was made a peer by David Cameron in 2011 and has been his guest for dinner at Chequers. A noted philanthropist, he gave £2million to education charity ARK – or Absolute Returns for Kids – to fund Burlington Danes City Academy in White City in West London. But he is happy to speak his own mind. When in 2012 George Osborne tried to stop the rich from enjoying tax breaks by making donations to charities, Fink led the opposition. It was unprecedented for a Tory treasurer to publicly denounce a Conservative Chancellor but Fink did so, and it was a decisive intervention. Within days Osborne had backed down.
Ed Miliband thinks row over tax dodging makes him appear on voters' side .
Aides said the Labour leader sees parallels to Millie Dowler case .
Labour leader said Cameron was 'dodgy PM surrounded by dodgy donors'
He accused Tory donor Lord Fink of avoiding tax with Swiss bank account .
Former Tory treasurer threatened to sue Mr Miliband if he repeated it .
But, 24 hours later he admitted that he had avoided tax and it was 'normal'
The Labour leader today insisted he stood by his Commons remarks .
But Mr Miliband stopped short of accusing Lord Fink of being 'dodgy'
Ed Miliband was under fire last night over a ‘sickening’ suggestion that the row over Tory links to tax avoidance could be another ‘Milly Dowler moment’ to be exploited for political gain. The toxic claim was made by one of the Labour leader’s most senior aides, as Mr Miliband tried to drive home his efforts to link Tory donors to the tax avoidance scandal involving clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Labour last night said the exact phrase ‘Milly Dowler moment’ had not been used, and said the only comparison between the issues was the way they had ‘crystallised’ public opinion. Scroll down for video . The Labour Party was accused last night of exploiting the murder of Milly Dowler, left, for political gain after a senior aide to Ed Miliband, right,  claimed the Tory tax row could provide another Milly Dowler moment . But critics said it was astonishing that Labour saw any link between the two and called for the aide involved to ‘resign immediately’. Mark Lewis, a solicitor who represented the Dowler family over phone hacking, last night condemned the intervention. He said: ‘It is rather inappropriate that someone would regard the hacking of a murdered schoolchild as a political opportunity rather than the tragedy it was.’ Tory MP Mark Garnier, a member of the Commons Treasury committee, described the comparison as ‘sickening’. He said: ‘I am genuinely shocked that anyone would make such an utterly distasteful and revolting comparison.’ The row erupted after BBC political editor Nick Robinson posted a message on Twitter saying: ‘The Labour leader’s aides say that he sees this as another Milly Dowler moment.’ Mr Robinson later stressed the comment – which emerged from a lunch with Mr Miliband’s chief spin doctor Tom Baldwin – was not a direct quote. A Labour spokesman said: ‘An official talked about how the news story on Milly Dowler crystallised what a lot of people thought about the Press. ‘And this tax avoidance story on HSBC crystallises what a lot of people thought about tax avoiders. The words “Milly Dowler moment” never cropped up.’ Tory MPs last night urged the Labour leader to sack Mr Baldwin, a former journalist. Philip Davies said: ‘Tom Baldwin, like his mentor Alastair Campbell, represents the ugly underbelly of Labour. ‘Baldwin’s actions are utterly unforgivable. He should resign immediately.’ Mr Baldwin declined to comment. Mr Miliband claimed the row with former Conservative treasurer Lord Fink was 'a defining moment' in the general election campaign . The controversy overshadowed the row between Mr Miliband and the former Tory treasurer Lord Fink over his tax affairs. On Wednesday, Lord Fink challenged the Labour leader over claims that he was involved in ‘tax avoidance activities’ after he was named as one of the clients of HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Mr Miliband also appeared to suggest Lord Fink was a ‘dodgy’ donor. Lord Fink challenged Mr Miliband to repeat the claims outside the Commons – where he has protection from libel laws – saying he would sue him for defamation if he did. In a partial climbdown yesterday, Mr Miliband said he did not consider Lord Fink to be ‘dodgy’. Grocer's son who made £180 m - and gave away a fortune writes ANDREW PIERCE . Lord Stanley Fink at the  Savoy Hotel, in London . He lives in a mansion in North London, owns a villa that he built and designed on a vast estate in Spain, and has a five-star hotel in the swish ski resort of Courchevel in France, complete with a dozen luxury apartments. Oh, and he’s worth £180million. Little wonder that Ed Miliband, the son of a Marxist, saw Lord Fink’s riches and the revelations about his tax affairs and his account with the Swiss bank HSBC as the opportunity of a political lifetime. So who exactly is Lord Fink? Where does his money come from? And how great is his influence in Tory circles? He is known as the Godfather of hedge funds after turning a humble commodities firm called the Man Group, which sold rum to the British navy, into the biggest fund in the world with assets of £80billion. He became chief executive of Man in 2000, successfully catching the rapidly-rising hedge-fund tide, and has given the Tories millions of pounds. A classic Conservative rags-to-riches success story, Fink, 57, is the son of a Manchester grocer who made money on the side by selling his own range of lampshades. He is the most successful of his siblings – one of his brothers trades computer parts from a garage, the other is a middle-manager for a car windscreen company. Fink went to Manchester grammar school and studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he entered the City working in accountancy firm Arthur Andersen and then Mars, before turning Man into the largest listed hedge fund company in the world – and the biggest money-making machine in the City for decades. He enjoys the trappings of success. His Alpine hotel, he says, ‘is the best of both worlds, having a private house with a Michelin chef. I go to the hotel bar and use the pool and the gym.’ The father of two grown-up sons and a daughter, he met his wife Barbara when they were both volunteers in an old people’s home. For their 25th wedding anniversary in 2006 he flew 200 of his family and friends to Spain. Each guest received a suede mock-up passport that opened up to reveal pictures of the happy couple through the years. He chartered two planes for a three-day party with the stipulation that the only bags allowed in the luggage hold were to be Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The celebration took place in the Ronda mountains behind Marbella on La Zagaleta estate, one of the world’s most exclusive golf clubs, which he owns. Fink has described the location, with its views to the Mediterranean, as ‘a place as close to paradise as I have witnessed’. His screen saver on his computer in London is a view of the La Zagaleta golf course. Prime Minister's Questions became so heated yesterday the Commons Speaker John Bercow was forced to intervene . But despite the riches, life has not been plain sailing. In 2004 he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour after he suffered a mild stroke while on safari in Botswana with his family. He had been struck dumb midway through a sentence. The tumour required immediate surgery and he spent three months recovering. A passionate champion of the NHS, after one of his children had been dangerously ill he raised millions of pounds for Evelina London Children’s Hospital which opened in 2005, the first purpose-built children’s hospital in London in 100 years and a landmark in paediatric medicine. ‘A sick child is a sick family,’ Fink said of his decision. After his own health scare he quit Man Group in 2007. The following year he surprised the City when he returned with a new hedge fund, ISAM. An even bigger surprise was his choice of business partner – Lord Levy who was Tony Blair’s financial fixer for more than a decade. Levy was so successful at raising money for Labour he was dubbed Lord Cashpoint. Fink can, of course, always seek advice from Levy – who himself was accused of avoiding tax – over his current fix. When Blair was accused of selling honours for cash, Levy was twice interviewed by the police. No action was ever taken. Fink’s new hedge fund has offices in Australia, Dubai, New York and the tax- friendly Cayman Islands, and assets of more than £1billion. Unlike Levy he has always been a passionate Tory. He became a Tory after working as a student in a paper factory in Bury. While there, he developed a new method of generating more orders for the company. After a couple of days he was taken aside by a trade union shop steward and told this was ‘very unhelpful because there were people who weren’t able to pick orders at quite the same rate’. Fink was appalled. ‘It was a great shame because clearly my way was better for the company,’ he said. ‘I saw a negative side of trade unions. That hardened my views.’ Having served for two years as Tory treasurer, Fink was made a peer by David Cameron in 2011 and has been his guest for dinner at Chequers. A noted philanthropist, he gave £2million to education charity ARK – or Absolute Returns for Kids – to fund Burlington Danes City Academy in White City in West London. But he is happy to speak his own mind. When in 2012 George Osborne tried to stop the rich from enjoying tax breaks by making donations to charities, Fink led the opposition. It was unprecedented for a Tory treasurer to publicly denounce a Conservative Chancellor but Fink did so, and it was a decisive intervention. Within days Osborne had backed down.
‘sickening’ suggestion that the row over Tory described the comparison as ‘sickening’. He said: saying: ‘The Labour leader’s aides say that he Labour leader to sack Mr Baldwin, a former former Tory treasurer Lord Fink over his tax was a ‘dodgy’ donor. Lord Fink challenged Mr saying he would sue him for defamation if he did. £180million. Little wonder that Ed Miliband, the with the Swiss bank HSBC as the opportunity of a grocer who made money on the side by selling his who himself was accused of avoiding tax – over Chancellor but Fink did so, and it was a decisive