A north-east Lib Dem has been dumped by the party after he called for Boris Johnson to be chopped up and “burned at the stake”.

Galen Milne, who was hoping to challenge for the Banff and Buchan seat at the next election, was dropped by the party yesterday after the “hateful” Facebook rant surfaced.

In the post he said: “Johnson, Fox, Gove, Davis, Rees-Mogg should be hung, drawn and quartered, with each quarter being sent to the 4 corners of the UK to be burned at the stake”.

He also dubbed Conservative MPs “Tory rats” who “rear their ugly heads” and advocated splitting the party as the “final solution” – a phrase used by the Nazis to describe the Holocaust.

Mr Milne has since apologised for his comments.

He said: “I deeply regret the offensive statements on social media. I want to apologise to anyone that I have offended.”

A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson said such language was “unacceptable and offensive”.

“Galen Milne will not be a Liberal Democrat candidate at the General Election,” they added.

Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid condemned the remarks, saying: “These words from Mr Milne are far more toxic and hateful than we should expect from someone who aspires to be a Member of Parliament.

“In 2016, the country was horrified by the death of respected MP Jo Cox, at the hands of a man whose hatred was stoked by precisely this kind of incendiary speech.

“The language of the scaffold and the Third Reich do not belong in our representative democracy.

“If this is the quality of candidate the Lib Dems are happy to field, it speaks volumes about a once-great political party.

“Candidates must be held up to the highest standards in public life.”