Amber Rudd called Labour Diane Abbott 'coloured', Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said Islamophobia concerns should be directed to the Foreign Office and Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said killings by soldiers during the Troubles were 'not crimes'
THREE of Theresa May’s senior Cabinet Ministers were branded “muppets” after sparking uproar in astonishing gaffes.
The Government descended into farce as Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd was forced to apologise for calling Labour’s Diane Abbott “coloured”.
Separately Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom was slammed for saying MPs’ concerns about Islamophobia should be directed to the Foreign Office.
Critics said it suggested British Muslims were “foreigners”.
And
She was forced to issue a grovelling statement as the incendiary comments – late on Wednesday night - threatened already tense relations between No.10 and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Labour chair Ian Lavery called it a “day of shame” for the Government.
And Tory MPs were left seething at the state of the Cabinet.
One stormed: “The three of them are just muppets.”
They added: “It just smacks of incompetence. They’re more interested in being in office than actually doing the job.”
Amber Rudd issued an apology within minutes of her gaffe – which came as she was talking to BBC Five Live about the abuse suffered by female MPs in Parliament.
Speaking ahead of International Women’s Day, she told the BBC: “It definitely is worse if you’re a woman and it’s worst of all if you’re a coloured woman.
“I know Diane Abbott gets a huge amount of abuse and I think that’s something we need to continue to call out.”
As Labour MPs tore into the Tory leadership contender, Ms Rudd took to social media to say she was “mortified” at having used the outdated term.
But Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Home Secretary, piled on the pressure by saying the “offensive” term was a “revealing use of words”.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell added: “It all seems to be some hark back to some distant past… is this somehow betraying her inner concerns, inner beliefs?”
Ms Rudd was forced to quit the Home Office a year ago over the Windrush scandal – which saw Commonwealth-era immigrants deported or stripped of their benefits.
Ms Leadsom had been speaking to MPs in the Commons. Labour’s Naz Shah was asking for the chance of a debate about Islamophobia.
Ms Leadsom said she should “discuss a way forward with the Foreign Office”.
Ms Shah said it “horrifically alludes to British Muslims as foreigners”.
A spokeswoman for the Commons Leader insisted Ms Leadsom thought the Labour MP was referring to a global definition of Islamaphobia.
The spokeswoman 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 PM'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 for Housing, Communities and Local Government as appropriate."
Labour said Karen Bradley should quit – as she no longer had the credibility to stay on as Northern Ireland Secretary.
In September she admitted she hadn’t appreciated the sectarian voting patterns in the province.
as relatives of victims killed by the military demanded she go.
