Minister apologises after Twitter account hacked

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Chris Heaton-Harris posted on Twitter that his social media account had been hacked

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Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has apologised after he said his Twitter account was hacked and "posted some deeply unpleasant stuff".

The account for the Conservative MP for Daventry in Northamptonshire posted a series of tweets which included swear words and a racial slur.

After deleting the posts, he said he had been "hacked" but that post was deleted and a further string of tweets were posted, which suggested security had once again been compromised.

Mr Heaton-Harris was able to regain control of his account and deleted the posts.

Image source, PA Media
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Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris apologised for the messages posted

He tweeted: "I'm afraid my Twitter account was hacked overnight and someone posted some deeply unpleasant stuff on my account for which I can only apologise."

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Last year, House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle wrote to MPs warning them to tighten security on their mobile phones as the devices were being targeted by "hostile states".

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