Cabinet minister Amber Rudd has said she is "mortified" after referring to Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott as "coloured".

The work and pensions secretary prompted a fierce backlash after using the term during a radio interview.

She was among three cabinet ministers to come in for criticism on Thursday.

Ms Abbott, the shadow home secretary, criticised Ms Rudd's choice of words as "outdated, offensive and revealing".

Her fellow Labour MP Danielle Rowley claimed Ms Rudd "clearly gets her language from the same bygone era as her abhorrent welfare policies".


A third Labour MP, David Lammy, said: "You might forgive your grandma for saying it, but cabinet ministers in 2019 should know better than this.

"Using the term 'coloured' to describe anyone who is not white is offensive because it assumes being white is somehow normal or the default."

SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes described Mrs Rudd's comments as "bloody outrageous".

The term "coloured", is an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words. — Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) March 7, 2019

Mortified at my clumsy language and sorry to @HackneyAbbott. My point stands: that no one should suffer abuse because of their race or gender. — Amber Rudd MP (@AmberRuddHR) March 7, 2019

Shortly after making the comment, Ms Rudd issued an apology to Ms Abbott on Twitter.

She posted: "Mortified at my clumsy language and sorry to @HackneyAbbott.

"My point stands: that no one should suffer abuse because of their race or gender."

Ms Rudd had been speaking about the online abuse of politicians on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show when she used the term.

She said: "It definitely is worse if you're a woman, and it's worst of all if you're a coloured woman.

"I know that Diane Abbott gets a huge amount of abuse and I think that's something we need to continue to call out."

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch described himself as "devastated" in 2015 after he described black people as "coloured" on US television.

Football pundit Alan Hansen also previously issued an apology after using the term in reference to black footballers.

Zubaida Haque, deputy director of the Runnymede Trust, an independent race equality think tank, told Sky News: "It's important that Amber Rudd has apologised to Diane Abbott for using such outdated and offensive language.

"But equally it's important that we don't trivialise the impact that such language has on BME people and how they are perceived.

"For many BME people 'coloured' is a term which has negative connotations and painful reminders of the past."

Advice on racial terminology issued to UK universities describes the term "coloured" as "outdated" although "still fairly commonly employed".

It adds: "The term tends to suggest that, in the user's view, 'colour' is an attribute possessed by all skin types other than white and can therefore be used as an identifier for 'non-white' people.

"Today such usage tends to cause offence, or, at best, to indicate a naive or patronising approach in a multi-ethnic environment."

Ms Rudd rejoined the cabinet in November last year, little more than six months after resigning as home secretary amid the Windrush scandal.

I asked @andrealeadsom to call a debate on #Islamophobia given the scale of it in @Conservatives Party & following the @APPGBritMuslims report & definition. She said : speak to foreign office ministers about Islamophobia.When did attacks on BRITISH Muslims become a foreign issue? pic.twitter.com/idhfQEUKpK — Naz Shah MP (@NazShahBfd) March 7, 2019

Her public apology was the second of the day by a cabinet minister.

Hours earlier on Thursday, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said she was "profoundly sorry" for saying killings by the military and police during The Troubles "were not crimes".

Downing Street said Prime Minister Theresa May has confidence in both Ms Rudd and Ms Bradley.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons, was a third cabinet minister to be criticised on Thursday following her response to a request for a parliamentary debate on Islamophobia.

Ms Leadsom told Labour MP Naz Shah, who had made the request, that a debate to "discuss with Foreign Office ministers" whether the UK should seek a definition of Islamophobia "would be a useful way forward".

Ms Shah later queried why she had been told to speak to Foreign Office ministers. She posted on Twitter: "When did attacks on BRITISH Muslims become a foreign issue?"

Former Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi, who is calling for an independent inquiry into allegations of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, tweeted: "British Muslims are errrrr British. What is wrong with some of my colleagues. We are in a hole .....stop digging!"

Ms Leadsom had earlier told the Commons the Conservative Party "is taking very strong action in any cases of Islamophobia that we identify".

Ms Leadsom's office later clarified her remarks to Ms Shah.

A spokesperson said: "Islamophobia is unacceptable wherever it takes place.

"It was thought the MP for Bradford West was referring to a global definition of Islamophobia.

"International efforts to combat Islamophobia - and all forms of religious persecution and prejudice - are lead by the prime minister's special envoy on freedom of religion or belief, Lord Ahmad, at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

"Of course, any form of Islamophobia in the UK would be dealt with swiftly by the Home Office or Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, as appropriate."