The Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott was forced into an embarrassing apology yesterday after being accused of racism for claiming that “white people love playing divide and rule”.
The storm followed a Twitter exchange between Ms Abbott and a journalist, which was prompted by the convictions of two men for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Moments after insisting her remarks had been taken out of context, she was ordered by her party to backtrack. Asked on live television to explain what she meant, she broke off mid-sentence to take a call from the Labour leader, above.
The shadow Public Health Minister then said: “I understand people have interpreted my comments as making generalisations about white people. I apologise for any offence caused.”
She was also warned by Ed Miliband that she would be sacked if she repeated such sentiments.
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