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Victoria Derbyshire has issued a sincere apology to viewers for making an "unacceptable" mistake live on air during last night's screening of Newsnight. The 57-year-old broadcaster welcomed Labour peer and Blue Labour founder Maurice Glasman, 64, onto the show to discuss Keir Starmer's leadership after more than one year in office.

Sharing a clip from the BBC Two programme, one viewer pointed out on X - formerly known as Twitter: "Last night on Newsnight, the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn was described as 'racist, lunatic politicians'... i.e. the Labour leadership at the time. Why did this go unchecked by presenter Victoria Derbyshire or any panellist, including Newsnight's policy editor Nicholas Watt?"

Meanwhile, another fumed: "Newsnight is a disgrace - that comment was just allowed to go totally unchecked by presenter Victoria Derbyshire and all the panellists.

"Isn't the BBC currently on trial for incompetently defaming politicians? But any cr*p thrown at socialists is still acceptable apparently." On Wednesday (November 12), the veteran broadcaster personally apologised for the criticism of the interview online.

She replied to the post: "I have just gone back & rewatched. Yes, I should have challenged Maurice Glassman on this point - I am sorry. I absolutely made a mistake in the middle of a very busy programme about Keir Starmer. That isn't an excuse at all, just a tiny bit of explanation."

This isn't the first time in recent weeks that Victoria has been forced to apologise for her on-air mistakes during live tapings. Last month, she was forced to bring her Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg interview to a halt after realising the questions she needed weren't in front of her.

While filling in for the political presenter, Victoria was grilling Energy and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and his Conservative rival Claire Coutinho on the morning show. But the seasoned professional soon lost her composure when she was seen frantically rustling through her papers.

She then gestured to someone off-screen after realising that she had left her questions for Coutinho behind. Introducing the shadow secretary, Victoria began: "It was a Conservative government led by Theresa May which first committed the country to net zero emissions by 2050."

It was at this point that she realised her error and notified her team off-camera while she continued to conduct the interview. She flustered: "When Kemi Badenoch announced - ooh. Sorry, I left my questions over there, that's why I was doing that.

"Helen, can I have my questions? I'm so sorry, I've been stressing about it. Thank you. Sorry about that, everybody. A bit of TV magic for you." Despite the uncomfortable interruption, viewers went on to praise Victoria on social media for her swift recovery.

Many viewers even called for her to join the show permanently, with one user writing: "Refreshing to see brilliant Victoria Derbyshire on @bbclaurak today! Asking Ed Miliband & Claire Coutinho tough questions + holding Govt to account even-handedly, unlike Laura Kuenssberg, who morphs from attack dog to lap dog going from Labour to Tory & Reform politicians!"

Another agreed: "Best episode in recent times, well, since the last time Victoria hosted", while a third chimed in with: "A balanced panel, in-depth questioning, great contributions by the guests. Dear @BBC, please can we keep Victoria permanently? I'll be watching it this week as Victoria is on."