On 4 January 2012, Abbott tweeted that: "White people love playing 'divide and rule'. We should not play their game", which again led to widespread criticism, including accusations of racism. Abbott later apologised for "any offence caused", claiming that she had not intended to "make generalisations about white people". Abbott also stated in an interview with Andrew Neil that her tweet referred to the history of the British Empire. The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called her comments a "stupid and crass generalisation". Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP, said: "This is racism. If this was a white member of Parliament saying that all black people want to do bad things to us he would have resigned within the hour or been sacked." Members of the public lodged complaints, but the Metropolitan Police stated that no investigation would be launched, and no charges would be brought against her, saying she "did not commit a criminal offence."