The BBC faces a new impartiality row after Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce claimed she was required to "legally contextualise" comments about Stanley Johnson and domestic violence.

Ms Bruce said she was stepping back from her role as an ambassador for the charity Refuge following claims she had trivialised domestic violence during a discussion about Stanley Johnson on last Thursday's show.

In a statement, Ms Bruce said she was stepping back from the position "with real sadness".

The 58-year-old said: "I was required to legally contextualise a question about Stanley Johnson. Those words have been taken as an expression of my own opinions which they are absolutely not."

The presenter faced a backlash on social media after intervening when the father of former prime minister Boris Johnson was described as a “wife-beater”.

Journalist and panel member Yasmin Alibhai-Brown had said the 82-year-old’s alleged history of violence was “on record”.

Ms Bruce interrupted, telling Ms Alibhai-Brown and the audience: “I’m not disputing what you’re saying, but just so everyone knows what this is referring to, Stanley Johnson’s wife spoke to a journalist, Tom Bower, and she said that Stanley Johnson had broken her nose and that she’d ended up in hospital as a result.

“Stanley Johnson has not commented publicly on that. Friends of his have said it did happen but it was a one-off.”

Following the show, public figures including Labour MP Kate Osborne and chief executive of Women’s Aid Farah Nazeer accused her of downplaying the gravity of domestic violence/

In a statement released on Monday announcing her decision, Ms Bruce said:  "It is with real sadness that I have decided to step back from my role as an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge.

"Last week on Question Time, I was required to legally contextualise a question about Stanley Johnson. Those words have been taken as an expression of my own opinions which they are absolutely not, and as a minimising of domestic abuse, which I would never do.

"I know survivors of domestic abuse have been distressed by what I was required to say on-air. For that, I am deeply sorry. I cannot change what I was required to say, but I can apologise for the very real impact that I can see it has had."

On Monday, the BBC attempted to draw a line under its ongoing dispute with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker over his comments on the government's illegal immigration policy.

Announcing that Lineker would return to presenting duties this weekend, the Director General Tim Davie said people across the BBC were "passionate about impartiality".

He added: "That's so important in this world and this affair tells you how polarised debate has come. I want to fight for a BBC where we can have proper calm debate, facilitate free speech, that’s a really important thing, and this will allow us to do it."