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07th Sep 2015

Tens of thousands of people sign anti-Katie Hopkins petition

JOE

Her outspoken ways haven’t won her too many fans over the years, and now there’s this…

Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition calling for reality TV star Katie Hopkins to be exchanged for 50,000 refugees.

Admitting that he was bored when he started the petition, creator Ben Fletcher has explained that he wanted to raise awareness of the refugee crisis in a humorous manner. In a matter of days, the tongue-in-cheek petition has gained over 50,000 signatures – with Katie Hopkins herself tweeting a link to it.

https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/640177656328265728

“It was never meant in bad taste. There is a serious point behind this petition and that is that there are thousands and thousands of people who need our help,” Fletcher explained.

Earlier this year, Hopkins caused controversy when she likened Libyan migrants to ‘cockroaches’ in her column in The Sun.

The article even drew condemnation from the UN high commissioner for human rights – Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein – who described her language as being “unacceptable”.

As thousands of Syrian refugees reach Europe on a daily basis, Hopkins’ article has been circulated again.