A councillor who said Labour voters live on a diet of lard and joked about having shares in the Israeli arms trade should be removed from office, it's been claimed.

Labour’s parliamentary candidate Clair Hawkins says she hopes Deal Conservative Bob Frost should should not remain a councillor for much longer, after posting tweets saying Labour voters live on “a diet of lard and fags”.

The Deal town and district councillor also tweeted that his shares in the Israeli arms trade had gone up by 6% – a tweet he says was meant to be ironic.

When Ms Hawkins told him his tweets were offensive, he replied on social media by saying: “Was your humour by-pass on the NHS or did you go private? Calm down dear”.

Ms Hawkins, who is hoping to take the Dover and Deal seat at next year’s general election, said: “Cllr Frost’s tweets are insensitive, inappropriate and offensive.

“This isn’t the first time his social media comments have called into question his suitability for public office and I hope he doesn’t remain a councillor much longer.”

Cllr Frost responded: “I have been a member of Amnesty International and against the arms trade for years.

"Do you really think I would have shares in the Israeli arms trade or was it a joke?

"I find the situation in the Middle East horrific and I’ve been protesting about international arms trade since before Clair Hawkins was born. They just don’t get irony.

“I also find it tragic that we have people in this country dying of obesity when people are malnourished and starving in other countries.”

Cllr Frost explained that he will continue to use social media and added: “Might I suggest that if Clair finds my tweets disturbing she stops following me on Twitter?"

Cllr Frost has been in trouble before over offensive social media comments - when he used the term “raghead” and then proceeded to post a picture of a group of men wearing turbans and carrying guns.

In March this year he was also criticised for using the terms “frogs” and “sons of camel drivers.”

During the London riots three years ago he made the comment “jungle bunny” on Facebook and was subsequently suspended from the Conservative Party pending investigation but was later cleared of wrongdoing.

Charlie Elphicke, MP for Deal and Dover, commented: “It’s very important that all councillors think carefully about their words and deeds.

“Many people have also complained to me that Cllr Eddy and the Mayor of Deal were responsible for boarding up an elderly lady in their home.

“All councillors should behave in a responsible way.

“My message to Clair is to gently suggest that it’s never a good idea for anyone in public office to take themselves too seriously.

“Members of Parliament or parliamentary candidates should focus on improving health services, and safeguarding the future of our community and not engaging in twitter spats.”

Ms Hawkins responded: “I don’t know why Charlie Elphicke is trying to turn this into a he-said-she-said between him and me.

“Perhaps he is trying to deflect the focus from what Cllr Bob Frost chose to tweet and whether his offensive comments are appropriate for someone in public office.”

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