Shadow minister: I was only joking about female MPs being puppets

A Labour shadow media minister has said she was only joking after tweeting that Tory women were "puppets" and their looks were the "most interesting thing about them".

Helen Goodman deleted her tweet after she was condemned as a "moron" and "embarrassment to the Labour party and politics in general" for the comments, made in relation to coverage of David Cameron's cabinet reshuffle. Women and equalities minister Nicky Morgan also called on Ed Miliband to condemn her remarks.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party’s view is that David Cameron’s promises on increasing the representation of women are a sham. He said a third of all his ministers would be women. Fewer than one-in-four are. It is David Cameron who has failed.”