The BBC was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on Wednesday after Robert Jenrick was branded ‘xenophobic’ on a flagship radio news programme.

Corporation bosses apologised to the Shadow Justice Secretary and had Radio 4’s Today taken down from its streaming services and edited.

Guest Dr Krish Kandiah prompted fury when he used the Thought For The Day segment of Today to criticise this weekend’s Mail on Sunday front page in which Mr Jenrick said he worried for his young daughters and defended protests against asylum hotels.

With no reference made to his role as the founder of a refugee charity, Dr Kandiah was allowed to accuse the top Tory of fuelling ‘fear of the stranger’, telling listeners: ‘The technical name for this is xenophobia.’

Mr Jenrick hit back, tweeting: ‘On BBC Radio 4 this morning listeners were told that if you’re concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you’re racist. Wrong. You’re a good parent.’

He later told the Daily Mail: ‘Illegal migration is obviously fuelling crime and the public are right to be concerned about it.

‘It’s extremely disappointing the BBC thought it was acceptable to smear millions of worried citizens as “xenophobic” for their completely understandable fears about undocumented men entering illegally.’

Within hours of the breakfast broadcast, Today was pulled from the BBC Sounds app to be edited. It was only reinstated on Wednesday evening.

Radio 4’s head of editorial standards Roger Mahony wrote to Mr Jenrick to say he had removed two references to xenophobia from the programme and admit that the language went ‘beyond’ the segment’s scope. 

The furore raises serious questions about how the programme ended up on air in the first place and about editorial standards at the BBC.

First broadcast in 1939, Thought For The Day is intended as a forum for sharing ‘reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news’.

The programme is pre-recorded and is supplied by the corporation’s religion department rather than the Today production team, the BBC said.

Support for Mr Jenrick came from across the political divide, with Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice writing on X: ‘Delusional lefty filling R4 Today as usual. Trying to smear and label anyone who stands up for British women and girls.

‘We should be proud of Britain, our traditional values and affirm that our culture is superior to the anti-women misogynistic culture of some other nations.’ 

Robert Bates at the Centre for Migration Control, added: ‘Jenrick echoed the legitimate concerns of millions of people across our country. 

'It is no longer up for debate that there is a clear link between open borders and an increasing threat to British mothers, daughters and sisters.

‘The BBC has been loath to admit, or even discuss, the undeniable fact that young undocumented men from culturally distant societies are breaking into Britain and committing heinous crimes against women and girls.

‘Instead it chose to broadcast these utterly disparaging comments in a last-ditch attempt to demonise the vast majority of the country who share these views.’

The row erupted after Dr Kandiah, who runs the Sanctuary Foundation, a charity to resettle refugees, said: ‘A front-page story in The Mail on Sunday quoted shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick talking about his fears for his young daughters.

'He said, “I certainly don’t want my children to share a neighbourhood with men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally and about whom we know next to nothing”.

‘These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia… over the past year, xenophobia has fuelled angry protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, deepening divisions in our communities.’

Dr Kandiah was speaking a day after the number of Channel migrant crossings passed 50,000 since Labour won power last year. He then quoted figures saying the majority of those arriving in small boats are ‘found to be genuinely fleeing war, persecution and famine’. 

He did not say that the boats cross from France – a safe country.

In his letter to Mr Jenrick, Mr Mahony wrote: ‘Following discussion of the programme with the production team, I have concluded that, while its reflection on fear in society from a faith perspective is broadly in line with expectations of Thought For The Day, some of the language it used went beyond that.

‘I have asked for the two references to xenophobia to be edited from the programme on BBC Sounds. Please accept my apology for their original inclusion.’

A Tory source added: ‘Thought For The Day has long descended into a bunch of nobodies wittering on about their mad-hat socialist ideas. If the BBC are not prepared to broadcast serious religious voices they should at least ensure the second-rate ones they do find are balanced.

‘There are serious questions for the BBC as to how this was allowed under editorial guidelines.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘Today’s episode of Thought For The Day contained reflections from a faith perspective on fear in society but has been edited to remove some of the language used and we apologise for its inclusion.’