Slip of the tongue into swearing by Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert

RED-FACED Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert joined an exclusive club of embarrassed public figures when he became the third in just hours to utter the English language’s most offensive word.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, December 6 in his role as policing minister Mr Herbert inadvertently added an extra letter to the word “cuts”, which sparked hilarity from his fellow MPs.

Speaker John Bercow interjected, telling members that their hearing was “playing tricks with them” and they “didn’t hear what they thought they had”.

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It seemed as if Mr Herbert was the victim of a contagious trend, as it followed the word, possibly the only remaining swear taboo, being uttered live 
on BBC radio twice that day.

When introducing the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt on Radio 4’s Today programme, presenter Jim Naughtie accidentally replaced the first letter 
of his interviewee’s name.

Later on, Andrew Marr, speaking during the same station’s Start the Week programme repeated the mistake when explaining his colleague’s gaffe.

At the time of going to press, Mr Herbert was unavailable for comment.