The BBC has apologised after a contributor to the Radio 4 Today programme's Thought for the Day slot accused shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick of "xenophobia".
Theologian and author Dr Krish Kandiah used the term about an article in which Jenrick said he wouldn't want his daughters living near "men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally and about whom you know next to nothing".
In response, Jenrick said listeners had been told that "if you're concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you're racist".
A BBC statement said that while Dr Kandiah's message was "broadly in line with expectations of Thought for the Day, some of the language it used went beyond that and we apologise for its inclusion".
Wednesday's episode of the Today programme was temporarily taken down from catch-up service BBC Sounds while three sentences were edited out of Thought for the Day.
