Theresa May’s cabinet in chaos as three top ministers under fire over gaffes

Theresa May’s cabinet has descended into disarray after three of her most senior ministers made gaffes that left them facing calls to apologise or resign.

A raft of senior Irish and Northern Irish politicians demanded the PM’s close ally Karen Bradley quit over inflammatory comments about killings by British soldiers during the Troubles.

Pensions secretary Amber Rudd apologised minutes after sparking outrage by referring to Labour’s Diane Abbott as a “coloured woman”.

That came hours after Andrea Leadsom was criticised after she said it was the Foreign Office’s responsibility to help define Islamophobia in Britain – which critics claimed meant she was implying “British Muslims are foreigners”.

It comes against a general backdrop of malaise, with the government’s apparently dwindling chances of securing a meaningful alteration to the Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of critical votes next week.

If Ms May loses another Commons vote on her deal, her executive could be stripped of its control of the Brexit process, with MPs taking the reins.

Ms Bradley apologised on Thursday morning for saying deaths caused by soldiers and police in Northern Ireland were not crimes, comments she later described as “misguided and ill-judged”.

Dr James Reilly, a senator and former deputy leader of Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael party, said in a sitting on Thursday morning: “I too decry and deplore the comments made by Karen Bradley. I fail to see how she can ever regain the confidence of nationalists and families of those who suffered through the Troubles.

“Have we forgotten Bloody Sunday? Have we forgotten the Miami [Show]Band? Have we forgotten so many other issues? I think she really does need to consider her position.”

Independent senator Frances Black followed up saying: “The hurt that Karen Bradley caused to families of those killed by state forces during the conflict was disgraceful; for her to say that the massacres of innocent people on Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy and others was ‘dignified and appropriate’ is beyond belief, she needs to resign.”

Calls for Ms Bradley’s resignation also came from Northern Ireland. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood accused Ms Bradley of “publicly interfering with the rule of law”.

Ms Rudd made her comments about Ms Abbott in a radio interview later in the day, immediately leading the Labour politician to accuse the cabinet minister of using “outdated, offensive” language.

Referring to abuse suffered by politicians, the pensions secretary said: “It’s worst of all if you are 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.”

Labour MP Danielle Rowley said the cabinet minister had undermined “an important point about abuse”, adding: “She clearly gets her language from the same bygone era as her abhorrent welfare policies.”

But Ms Rudd quickly apologised, posting on her Twitter account minutes later: “Mortified at my clumsy language and sorry to [Diane Abbott]. My point stands: that no one should suffer abuse because of their race or gender.”

Historically, the term “coloured” was associated with enforced racial segregation in the United States during the era of Jim Crow laws – with African Americans forced to use “coloured-only” public services.

The work and pensions secretary returned to cabinet in late 2018 with the welfare brief, after she was forced to resign as home secretary during the fallout from the Windrush scandal.

Ms Leadsom’s gaffe came in response to Labour’s Naz Shah MP, who asked about calls by more than 50 cross-party parliamentarians to adopt an official definition of Islamophobia.

In her response, the minister said: “She raises a very important point about whether we should seek a definition of Islamophobia and I would encourage her to perhaps seek an adjournment debate in the first instance so she can discuss with Foreign Office officials.”

Ms Shah said she was “shocked” by the response and that Ms Leadsom’s response had implied that “British Muslims are foreigners”.

The comments come amid the row over antisemitism in the Labour Party and Islamophobia in the Conservatives, but created the impression of a government struggling to get its message across.

Ms May will aim to try and get the cabinet in line ahead of next week, when the government faces a series of critical votes in the Commons which could spell the end of her key policies on Brexit and even the collapse of her administration.