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."