Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Emily Thornberry said "I hate the SNP" while attacking the Scottish government's record on education and health

Labour leadership candidate Emily Thornberry has apologised to SNP MPs after saying she "hated" the party.

Ms Thornberry said "I hate the SNP" while attacking the Scottish government's record on education and health at a leadership hustings event.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon criticised her language, saying "hate is not a good emotion in politics".

The shadow foreign secretary has now apologised, saying "there is no place for hatred in our politics".

SNP MP Stewart McDonald thanked her for the "most sincere apology" and invited her to the London SNP Burns supper.

At a hustings event earlier in January, during a speech attacking the Scottish government Ms Thornberry said: "I hate the SNP. I hate the SNP. I think they're Tories wrapped up in nationalist clothing, they pretend to be on the left but they're not on the left."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said candidates should "dial down the hate a little bit", adding that Labour should "consider how that kind of statement sounds to people in Scotland who in such large numbers vote SNP".

During an urgent question on the Middle East in the Commons, Ms Thornberry asked to "take a brief moment to apologise to colleagues on the SNP benches for the language I used in the heat of hustings last week".

She said: "When we are debating the Middle East, it is a salutary reminder to me both that there is no place for hatred in our politics, and that on almost every foreign policy issue including this one, we have opposed the Tory government together and I'm sorry for what I said."