LABOUR was embroiled in a racism row today as an MP was forced to apologise for handing out “utterly shameful” election campaign leaflets which pledged to “deal with traveller incursions.” 

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols, who sits in Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet as women and equalities minister, posted photos of the anti-Traveller literature on Twitter while on the local election campaign trail in Orford. 

Alongside commitments to “continue action on fly-tipping,” the leaflet also includes a pledge to “deal with traveller incursions.” 

Ms Nichols issued a statement today apologising “unreservedly” for the “offence and hurt that I have caused to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller [GTR] community.” 

She said the leaflet has now been “withdrawn and destroyed” after speaking to the local Labour party. 

“I regret that this leaflet has been distributed in the town,” she added. “The leaflet is not in line with my personal values or those of the Labour Party.” 

In a previous statement issued earlier today, the MP, who was elected in 2019, bizarrely claimed she did not understand the meaning of “incursion.” 

The scandal hits the party in the week the Tory government was slammed for a “whitewash” report denying the existence of institutional racism in Britain.

The Friends and Families of Travellers (FFT) charity branded her comments “utterly shameful” and “utterly baffling” adding that “claiming ignorance will not cut it.”

FFT director Sarah Mann said: “It is completely unacceptable that the shadow minister for women and equalities is handing out leaflets on ‘dealing with Traveller incursions’ to win votes at election time. 

“Charlotte Nichols’s apology falls insultingly short. The language used is disgraceful, but the issue is so much more than language — it’s the whole approach. 

“For decades, the government has failed to identify enough space for Travellers to live and through the Policing Bill the Home Secretary is planning to jail, fine and remove the homes of innocent people for the ‘crime’ of having nowhere to go. 

“It is as cruel as it is illogical to campaign for roadside camps to be ‘dealt with’ when the shortage of places to stop is so severe. 

“Britain needs more transit pitches, permanent pitches and stopping places in every area — why do we never see this on election leaflets? Because it’s much easier to scapegoat Travellers than to dismantle structural racism. Everybody needs a place to live.”

Labour for a Green New Deal said the party “should be standing with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, not demonising them. Too many of Labour’s elected representatives don’t seem to understand this.”

It comes at a time of heightened attacks on the GTR community imposed by the government’s policing Bill, which if passed would criminalise trespass. 

Human rights group Liberty has warned this would “threaten Gypsy and Traveller way of life.”

Military terms like “incursion” and “invasion” to describe encampments have also crept into discourse during the upcoming Scottish elections. 

Last week the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gypsies, Travellers and Roma co-chairman Martin Docherty wrote a letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon raising concerns about “stigmatising language” used by prospective candidates. 

Responding to the Labour leaflet today the APPG said on social media: “Disgraceful to see this hostile anti-Traveller electioneering. 

“Gypsy and Traveller communities already feel under siege with the Police Bill.”

A spokesperson for Labour in Warrington said: “This leaflet should not have been produced or delivered. It is not in line with Labour values and has been immediately withdrawn and destroyed. We apologise for the hurt this has caused to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community.”