A Ukip parliamentary candidate has hit out at ‘moaning lefty types’ after facing a backlash for describing Islam as a ‘cancer’.

Caroline Santos, who is battling the Rutherglen and Hamilton seat in west Scotland, made the initial remark as she replied to a tweet from English Defence Founder Tommy Robinson.

Responding to Robinson, who boasted that his Facebook page had received more than 4 million views in a week, she wrote: ‘The state made him an enemy. Now look what’s happened! When will the state learn to listen to people affected by the growing cancer of Islam.’

She has since defended her claims after the tweet was flagged up by activist group Resisting Hate, who accused her of a ‘divisive’ anti-Islam agenda.

We invite #UKIP candidate Caroline Santos @Casumptious to publicly comment on this tweet of hers. #GeneralElection2017 pic.twitter.com/mia30PCMxY — Resisting Hate (@ResistingHate) May 3, 2017





Ms Santos wrote: ‘Remember that, by your own logic that would apply to moaning lefty types who are anti everything they don’t agree with.’

Ms Santos also defended her initial remarks, and claimed it was ‘quite obvious’ that she was not referring to Islam as a whole.

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She told The Independent: ‘There are problems with Islam in parts of England – not here in Scotland – which needs to be sensibly and intellectually debated, to prevent people from being hateful. I genuinely believe that Islam is not a very savoury faith.”

‘Islamic faith has an element of oppressive tendencies towards women and that should be addressed more in the west. Hundreds of years ago, Christianity didn’t behave particularly well, and I expect in a hundred years or so, Islam might have moved on in terms of how it treats women and its attitude towards homosexuality and so on.’

Ukip has been contacted for comment by Yahoo News.