Hertfordshire Deputy Police Commissioner: 'Not my intention to offend' with Hitler tweet (From Watford Observer)

Hertfordshire Deputy Police Commissioner Rachel Frosh: 'Not my intention to offend' with Hitler tweet

7:17pm Monday 11th February 2013 in News By Mike Wright , Chief Reporter

Hertfordshire’s deputy police and crime commissioner has said she did not intend to offend anyone by posting a quote by Adolf Hitler on microblogging site Twitter.

Dr Rachel Frosh, a Conservative town councillor, provoked upset from other Twitter users when she retweeted a post which drew a parallel between Hitler’s National Socialist Party and modern socialists.

The post said “Dear Socialists embrace your inner Nazism” and had a picture of Adolf Hilter with a quote from 1927.

In the quote Hitler describes his fledgling Nazi party as “socialists” and the “enemies of the capitalistic economic system.”

Today Dr Frosh said she did not mean to offend people who consider themselves socialist but highlighted her dislike of Hitler being associated with the right wing of the political spectrum.

Speaking to the Watford Observer she said: “It is the perils of doing a retweet. I don’t remember retweeting it. It doesn’t mean I agree with it.

“I think racist extremist parties are off on their own. They are not extreme right or extreme left, they are nowhere. They are just unacceptable.

“Basically what I am saying is that any racist party is not anything to do with any mainstream party.

“When the BBC talk about the BNP as far right it is upsetting to the people on the right of centre as they are outside anything on the right. Their views are unacceptable full stop.

“Some people in the Labour party consider themselves to be socialist and someone who considers themselves a socialist would not want to be associated with the Nazis - as wouldn’t anyone in the Conservatives.

“There is no extreme left or right, it’s just extreme racists.”

Dr Frosh was appointed by Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, David Lloyd, to be his number two after the Conservative was elected to the post in November.

She currently paid £20,000 a year for the two-day a week role.

The GP, who also sits on Harpenden Town Council, retweeted the controversial post on January 31 before deleting it.

However a screen shot of the Hitler post on her feed resurfaced on the social network site again this week with some users asking her if it was appropriate for someone her position to be retweeting.

Dr Frosh then reposted the tweet and Hitler picture in her Twitter feed this evening along with an explanation of her actions.

This afternoon she added: “If there are any left wing people offended by it that was not my intention.

“I have a lot of friends in the Labour party and some really lovely people are in the Labour party. Sometimes you cannot put a piece of paper between people in the Labour and the Conservative party. They have more in common than with extreme parties.

“I am very happy with my tweets. It’s just retweets that can be misleading as you have not said what you want to say.”