Diane Abbott rejects BBC response to row over 'unacceptable' Question Time experience

Shadow home secretary says broadcaster's statement 'is not an apology' and accuses host Fiona Bruce of 'repeating Tory propaganda'

Diane Abbott has rejected the BBC's response to accusations she was mistreated during last week's episode of Question Time.

Labour has demanded an apology from the broadcaster over what it called "unacceptable" treatment of the shadow home secretary, who said she had endured a "horrible experience" on the flagship show.

Ms Abbott said she was interrupted twice as many times as the Conservative MP on the panel, justice minister Rory Stewart.

At one point, host Fiona Bruce interjected when the shadow minister rightly claimed that recent polls suggested Labour is neck-and-neck with the Tories. The presenter insisted the party was "definitely" behind.

Ms Bruce has also been accused of making a joke during the show's warm up segment about Ms Abbott only having been handed her shadow cabinet job because of her past relationship with Jeremy Corbyn. The BBC refused to confirm or deny the claim.

The Independent revealed yesterday that Labour has requested unaired footage of the warm up before last's week show and demanded an on-air correction of Ms Bruce's poll claim during next week's episode. 

As the row deepened, the BBC admitted Ms Bruce should have been clearer about recent opinion polls but strongly denied that any panellist had been "treated unfairly".

Ms Abbott hit back, writing on Twitter: "This is not an apology and does not address all of the issues that have been raised.

"Fiona Bruce was clearly repeating Tory propaganda that Labour were behind in the polls. If she had said behind in one poll, that would have been (a) different matter."

Earlier, a Labour source told The Independent: “Diane Abbott has been subjected to a serious, often racist and sexist campaign of hate and abuse. The way she was treated on Question Time was unacceptable and fed the hostility towards her. 

“We expect the programme to correct inaccuracies, provide a full explanation of what happened during the show’s production and to apologise to Diane.”

The BBC did not respond when asked if it would agree to Labour's requests. However, a spokesperson said earlier: "We are sorry to hear Diane Abbott's concerns over Thursday's edition of Question Time and we have contacted her team to reassure them that reports circulating on social media are inaccurate and misleading.

"Diane is a regular and important contributor to the programme.

"As we said earlier, we firmly reject claims that any of the panel was treated unfairly either before or during the recording."

The broadcaster added in a tweet: "We've reviewed what was said re. polling on Question Time. A YouGov poll published on the day of the programme suggested a lead for the Conservatives. Diane Abbott was also right that some other polls suggested Labour either as ahead or tied and we should have made that clear."