A Labour MP has been suspended after making "racist" remarks about Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng at a fringe event during the party conference.
Rupa Huq has had the whip suspended after she described the Tory minister as a "superficially black man".
A Labour source told the Mirror: "What Rupa said was clearly totally inappropriate."
The remark provoked outrage, with Conservative chairman Jake Berry writing to Labour leader Keir Starmer and describing the comment as "nothing short of racist".
She has since apologised to Mr Kwarteng descsribing her remarks were as "ill-judged".
The shadow Home Office minister was sitting on a panel, alongside Shadow Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds, at a Labour fringe event on Monday that was meant to focus on the party's agenda on race.
A member of the audience questioned what policies Mr Kwarteng rolled out in his mini-budget that would positively affect the lives of black people living in Britain.
Reflecting on Mr Kwarteng's position in Government as a black man, Ms Huq said: "What impact has that had on him becoming Chancellor and what impact has it had on his economic policy?"
Ms Huq responded: "I'm sorry, if I was not making myself understood.
"Superficially, he's like a black man. But again, he's got more in common... if you look at again, it's about Jo Cox and More in Common.
"If you look at the current he went to Eton, I think he went to very expensive prep school all the way through the top schools in the country.
"If you hear him on the Today programme, you wouldn't know he's black. So my point is that it's kind of what you do."
She added: "He's got more in common with [David] Cameron."
Outlining her apology to Mr Kwarteng, Ms Huq tweeted: "I have today contacted Kwasi Kwarteng to offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments I made at yesterday’s Labour conference fringe meeting.
"My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected."
It's understood the Labour Party has notified Rupa Huq that she has been administratively suspended due to a complaint, and as a result, she is automatically suspended from the Labour whip.
A spokesman for Keir Starmer said: "We obviously condemn the remarks that she made that are totally inappropriate and we would call on her to apologise and withdraw them."
Sunder Katwala, who was chairing the event for the British Future and Black Equity organisations challenged Ms Huq, said: "There's something about this and I think the Labour Party has to be really careful.
"Kwasi Kwarteng is black British. He's black African.
"He's recognisably black... he's got very Thatcherite economics. It's a black middle class view... he represents a particular postimperial blackness that constitutes his blackness."
Responding to the remarks on BBC's Politics Live show, shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "I think those comments are unfortunate.
"I wouldn't have made them myself. I hope Rupa apologises and retracts them."
