The video will start in 8 Cancel

The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The Work and Pensions Secretary referred to Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary as a “coloured woman” while defending her over the personal attacks she receives.

Speaking to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2, Ms Rudd 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."

Ms Rudd said she is “mortified at my clumsy language” and has apologised since the show.

In her apology, Ms Rudd tweeted: "My point stands: that no one should suffer abuse because of their race or gender."

Shortly before Ms Rudd's apology, Ms Abbott tweeted: "The term 'coloured', is an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words."

People reacted with shock and horror at the apparent gaffe.

BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg said: “Amber Rudd referred to Diane Abbott as a 'coloured woman' in interview on Jeremy Vine - pretty gobsmacking in 2019.”

(Image: GETTY) (Image: Twitter)

But Diane Abbott isn’t immune to the occasional gaffe herself.

She caused a furore when she appeared on BBC’s Question Time in April 2018 and referred to Jewish people wearing “costumes”.

It was a particularly poor choice of words as Labour was, and still is, embroiled in a scandal around allegations of institutional antisemitism.

(Image: BBC)

Answering a question from the audience about why Labour had “such a problem with antisemitism”, Ms Abbott said: “I take anti-Semitism very seriously.

“Partly because I’ve literally spent a lifetime fighting racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination of all sorts.

“But partly because in Hackney I have one of the oldest Jewish communities in the country and I respect that history.

“In my constituency, I have a community of Charedi Jews that are actually subject to hate crime more than other Jews, because they wear that costume, they walk to Synagogue.”

Web editor of Jewish News, Jack Mendel, said: “Diane Abbott talking about Hackney Charedi community wearing 'costumes' on BBC QT was a very strange remark.

“Could you imagine referring to Muslim women in headscarves /Sikh men in turbans as being 'in costume'?

“Not the language of an MP good relations to the community methinks…”