Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has said she keeps "a little book of bollocks" containing all the jargon her Cabinet colleagues use.

In an interview with the Financial Times Jowell says ministers are talking too much meaningless government jargon that "real people" do not understand.

"I have what I call a bollocks list where I just sit in meetings and I write down some of the absurd language we use, and we are all guilty of this, myself included," the Cabinet member said.

She goes on: "The risk is when you have been in government for eight years you begin to talk the language which is not the language of the real world."

Jowell singles out such phrases as "reproofing expenditure", "sustainable eating in schools", "regional data feedback rollout" and "weaning the profile" as examples of the jargon espoused by her colleagues.

Urging the government to "cut the crap" she says bureaucratic language is responsible for creating a barrier between ministers and the public.