Tottenham MP David Lammy has said he was subject to racial abuse on Twitter and by email after calling Nigel Farage “racist” last week.

Writing in the Guardian newspaper, Mr Lammy said that he suffered from “a torrent of abuse”, adding that “much of it had racial undertones and in several cases the comments strayed into outright racism.”

He said: “The experience was a reminder, if one were needed, that the battle against racism continues in Britain today.”

Despite this, he claimed that “Britain has come a long way on race”, and that the country should be “proud” in its fight to “flush out prejudice where it still remains.”