Diane Abbott remains under pressure despite apologising for any offence caused by her now infamous "divide and conquer" tweet, which has caused a furore at Westminster and online.
Ms. Abbott, a shadow public health minister in Labour leader Ed Miliband's team, was attempting to explain her tweet to Sky News, saying it had been taken out of context. Then her phone rang and she abruptly called time on the interview.
It has been suggested that it was Ed Miliband himself who was on the phone to Abbott at the time.
In a statement Abbott said: “I understand people have interpreted my comments as making generalisations about white people. I do not believe in doing that. I apologise for any offence caused."
A Labour spokeperson said her comments were unacceptable. "We disagree with Diane’s tweet. It is wrong to make sweeping generalisations about any race, creed, or culture. The Labour Party has always campaigned against such behaviour – and so has Diane Abbott.”
Some Tory MPs have called for Abbott to resign from the shadow cabinet. So far government ministers have stopped short of calling for this, with Nick Clegg describing her tweet as "stupid".