Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has called for the BBC to sack Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson over the use of the “n-word”.
The shadow culture secretary said anybody who used the word “in whatever context” should have no place at the broadcaster.
Her intervention came after Education Secretary Michael Gove urged the corporation not to axe Clarkson.
In a Twitter post Ms Harman said: “Anybody who uses the N-word in public or private in whatever context has no place in the British Broadcasting Corporation.”
Clarkson became embroiled in a racism row following claims that he used the n-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe while shooting an episode of the BBC2 programme.
In the footage Clarkson is using the nursery rhyme to compare two sports cars. He said he “mumbled where the offensive word would normally occur” in two takes, and used the word “teacher” in its place in a third.
Last night he posted a video in which he said he “did everything in my power to not use that word” and was now “begging your forgiveness for the fact that obviously my efforts weren’t quite good enough”.
Mr Gove said Clarkson’s apology should draw a line under the row.
He said: “The word in question is horrendous and shouldn’t be used but I have read Jeremy Clarkson’s account in the papers today, his explanation, and it seems to me that this was a word that he never intended to utter, never intended to broadcast.”