Diane Abbott apologises over 'racist' tweet but keeps job

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP came under fire for the tweet posted on Wednesday night, with Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi calling for her resignation. Diane Abbott later apologised for the post and while denouncing the language used, Labour refused to be drawn on her position within the Opposition."I understand people have interpreted my comments as making generalisations about white people, I do not believe in doing that," Abbott said in a statement. "I apologise for any offence caused".
The post was a reply to journalist Bim Adewunmi who had commented on the use of the term 'black community' in coverage of the Stephen Lawrence trial. Diane Abbott has since said that the tweet was "taken out of context". She asserted that it referred "to the nature of 19th century European colonialism" and that it was a "bit much to get into 140 characters".

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