Ed Miliband will attend today’s unity rally in Paris

Ed Miliband has confirmed that he will travel to Paris today to attend the rally taking place in wake of the terror attacks early this week. More than a million people are expected to take to the streets, as are over 40 world leaders, including David Cameron. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in attendance, while both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have travelled from the Middle East for the event.

The attacks this week included the murder of cartoonists at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, police officers, and shoppers in a Kosher supermarket. Yesterday, marches across France to stand up against the violence were attended by over 700,000 people. Today’s rally in Paris is expected to be even larger.

The rally will begin at 2pm (GMT), and the march will be led by families of the victims.

On Twitter this morning, Miliband wrote: “Everyone was shocked and appalled by the murderous terrorism in France last week. I’m travelling to Paris to join the Unity Rally today.”

UPDATE: Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has said:

“The tragedy in France this week was a horrific reminder to all of us of the evil that exists in the world. A terrorist attack on the media is an attack on democracy and Scotland stands with France in its time of heartbreak. 

“The events over the weekend, where hundreds of thousands of people have united to stand in solidarity, shows the very best of humanity. People from all ages, races, creeds and backgrounds standing shoulder to shoulder in a nation’s moment of grief is the greatest example of why we will never back down to terror.”