The Board of Deputies has called on Katie Hopkins to apologise after the controversial writer and media personality posed for a photo with a Swedish man who once denied the Holocaust.

Ms Hopkins was pictured in a photo together with Peter Sweden, 22, who tweeted last October that  “the globalists (mainly jews) are the ones bringing in the muslims to europe. They seem to work together”.

In May 2016 he tweeted that: “The claim that 6 million jews were gassed seem highly unprobable[sic]. The concentration camps didnt have the facilities for that”. In August 2016, he tweeted that "the Holocaust is a lie."

Mr Sweden has subsequently said he no longer denies the Holocaust.

In a tweet posted on July 19 2017 he said Holocaust denial was a view “long left behind me”.

He added: “My views now are very different and I strongly regret things I have said when I was young”.

Mr Sweden said that he now believed the Holocaust happened and that it was a “horrific crime”.  

Ms Hopkins initially tweeted the photo of herself and Mr Sweden together, before deleting it and replacing it with a tweet with similar wording, but different photos.

She has been in Sicily attempting to prove that charities saving lives on the Mediterranean are actually working with people traffickers. As part of her efforts, she has been spending time on board the C-Star, a ship being used by a group called Defend Europe, which is trying to prevent charities like Save the Children help refugees cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

Two months ago Ms Hopkins was dismissed from her role as a radio host on London’s LBC network, after calling for a “final solution” in the wake of the terrorist attack on Manchester. The term was first used by the Nazis as a euphemism for the Holocaust.

Marie Van der Zyl, Vice President of the Board of Deputies, said: “It was distressing to see Katie Hopkins posing for a photo with a Holocaust denier, as part of her trip to support the ‘Defend Europe’ campaign.

“This follows Ms Hopkin’s previous call for a ‘final solution’. Ms Hopkins should apologise, and think twice about giving her backing to a far-right campaign whose supporter base seems to be made up of anti-Muslim propagandists and Neo-Nazis”. 

Dr Edie Friedman, Executive Director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said: “Freedom of speech is precious. Using this freedom to preach hate and division should be consigned to the dustbin of history.”

This article has been amended to reflect Peter Sweden’s rejection of Holocaust denial.