A moderate Labour MP reportedly sent abusive messages about the state of the party to a WhatsApp group, without realising it could be read by dozens of loyal Corbynista MPs.

Lucy Powell, who was chief of staff to Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader, ranted about the 'ludicrous, nonsensical, pretend, unreal, b******s position' of the party in a WhatsApp message intended for her moderate allies.

The 42-year-old MP for Manchester Central went on to have a dig at Angela Rayner, who replaced her as Shadow Education Secretary, and Tulip Siddiq, who quit the frontbench last week over the decision to hold a three-line whip on the Article 50 legislation.

Lucy Powell (pictured) was left red-faced after she sent messages mocking her colleagues and the state of the party to the wrong WhatsApp group

She mocked the pair for believing they could end up ministers 'in an actual Labour government' with the party so far behind the Tories in the polls.

The Times reported that Powell later realised the message had gone to a WhatsApp group containing all female Labour MPs and sent a grovelling apology for 'being a cow' and said she had learnt a 'terrible lesson'.

But, with Labour trying to defend seats in by-elections in Stoke-on-Trent and Copeland next month, the embarrassing exposure of rifts within the party could not have come at a worse time.

Angela Rayner (pictured) replaced Powell as Shadow Education Secretary and has been tipped as a Corbynista leader of the party if Corbyn chooses to quit before the General Election

Rayner, who became MP for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2015 election, is tipped by the party's Left-wing as a future leader if Jeremy Corbyn decides to step down before the General Election in 2020.

Powell resigned from the Shadow Cabinet during last year's attempted coup against Corbyn, which ended in failure when he was re-elected by the Labour membership in the autumn.

The Times said Rayner and Siddiq had used the WhatsApp group to comment on an article Powell had written about childcare.

Powell initially replied: 'Totally agree Angela x.'

Tulip Siddiq (pictured, left, handing a petition into Downing Street last year) resigned from her job as a shadow education minister last week in opposition to Corbyn's decision to impose a three-line whip on Labour MPs for the Article 50 bill

But a few seconds later, in a message she clearly did not intend Rayner or Siddiq to read, she wrote: 'We are in the most ludicrous, nonsensical, pretend, unreal, b******s position as an opposition, and they want to kick off about a little op-ed on f****** childcare. Don't know whether to laugh or cry.'

She compounded the damage to herself seconds later when she wrote: 'Angela and Tulip really think they're going to be ministers...in an actual Labour government very soon.'

Naz Shah, a Corbynista MP, replied: 'Sorry am I missing something?'

Powell, suddenly realising what she had done, sent three increasingly grovelling apologies.

The final one said: 'I'm so sorry. WhatsApp is a terrible thing. I have learnt a terrible lesson. I'm so sorry. You can have the last laugh at me being a cow.'