IN all the royal engagement news, there was another story that caught my eye this week – that Katie Hopkins will no longer write her regular column for a a newspaper website.

In a statement it was confirmed that her contract had not been renewed by Mail Online using that classic term by mutual consent.

Before I start let me make it clear I am obviously in favour of free speech and expression. Everyone does – it is a crucial human right we should defend.

But I think many people forget that freedom of speech is not meant to be a free-for-all. For instance there are legal requirements professional journalists adhere to everyday – ensuring balanced coverage in stories for example.

I would argue freedom of speech also comes generally with responsibilities, especially when given a platform.

When a claim of freedom of speech hurts others with hateful remarks, accusations and false statements – that is not freedom. That is simply abusing the right.

Throughout her career, which began by being rude on reality TV show The Apprentice, Katie Hopkins has gone too far in many of her remarks.

There have been so many examples it is difficult to mention them all. She has described migrants as “cockroaches”, said racial profiling “is a good thing” and after the Manchester Arena bombing called for a “final solution” for Muslims in Britain – later claiming that the use of the phrase, which everyone knows is so closely associated with the Holocaust, was “a mistake”.

The end of the column comes six months after her LBC radio show was taken off the air, and after previously parting company with the Sun.

I have always though Hopkins says a lot of her controversial views for effect, to market herself as a loud mouth, and there is a question of whether she believes everything she says.

Whether she does or doesn’t, her views are still damaging.

There has always been calls to ban her. I could never go as far as that as like I said earlier freedom of speech exists, even for controversial opinions.

But I have always wondered why employers, who have given her platforms over the years, would want to be associated with her.

It appears now they are finally seeing sense.