Katie Hopkins permanently suspended from Twitter for promoting hate speech

Twitter has permanently suspended Katie Hopkins from its social media platform for breaking the rules on hate speech.

The former Apprentice star turned far-right commentator had more than one million followers on the platform.

Hopkins has sparked outrage on numerous occasions in recent years with comments on race, religion and immigration - which had led to her becoming the subject of a petition urging Twitter to remove her from the site.

In a statement, a Twitter spokesman said Hopkins' account had been shut down for breaking the site's rules around hateful content.

'Keeping Twitter safe is a top priority for us - abuse and hateful conduct have no place on our service and we will continue to take action when our Rules are broken,' the company said.

'In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our Hateful Conduct policy.'

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According to Twitter's website, that policy prohibits promoting violence against or directly attacking or threatening people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, age, disability or serious disease.

Hopkins has been heavily criticised in the past for her comments, including comparing migrants to cockroaches and claiming the photograph of a dead Syrian boy lying on a beach that sparked a wave of compassion across Europe was staged, as well as stating that dementia sufferers should not block hospital beds.

She has also recently criticised the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the government's decision to offer free meals to children during school holidays - a campaign driven by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.

Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran tweeted: 'Long may this last'.

Broadcaster James O'Brien wrote: 'The Apprentice really has a hell of a lot to answer for on both sides of the Atlantic.'