DIANE ABBOTT has accused the government of “letting women down” over poverty and abuse.

The shadow home secretary was standing in for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today.

It was the first time a black female MP had taken to the dispatch box for PMQs.

Ms Abbott told Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab – who was standing in for Boris Johnson, in Manchester for the Conservative Party conference – that having had two female prime ministers did not mean that his party stood for women.

She raised abortion rights in Northern Ireland, the so-called “rape clause” — connected to tax credits if a mother is claiming assistance for a third child — and the plight of workers at the collapsed travel company Thomas Cook.

Ms Abbott said: “Whether it’s women members in this house, women claiming benefits, women’s reproductive rights in Northern Ireland and the failure to support women workers at Thomas Cook, isn’t this a government letting women down?”

In reply, Mr Raab said: “On this side of the house we’re proud to be on our second female prime minister.”

He went on to pay tribute to former PM Theresa May, who was sitting behind him, saying that she had worked on tackling human trafficking and violence against women.

A shout of “you stabbed her in the back” could be heard from an opposition MP.

In her concluding remarks, Ms Abbott said: “The Foreign Secretary hasn’t mentioned the fact there are over 600,000 more women and girls in poverty now than in 2010.

“It seems to me that Tory Members of Parliament may on occasion make women their leaders, but they need to learn how to treat them less cruelly.”

Mr Raab sought to defend the government’s record on female employment, women in business and a lower gender pay gap.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said it was a “disgrace” that Mr Johnson had only appeared at one PMQs since July and accused him of “running scared from this chamber.”