BBC apologises after suggesting partially deaf MP was asleep during debate

But the BBC’s Newsbeat twitter account tweeted that he had been “resting his eyes”.

Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet & Rothwell in West Yorkshire, had spoken about the history of trade unionism during yesterday’s session. The speakers are there for MPs as the House of Commons can get loud during debates.

The BBC was forced into apologising today after posting a tweet suggesting an MP was sleeping during a debate when he was in fact leaning into a speaker because he’s partially deaf.

Following BBC Parliament images of Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke going viral on social media, the Newsbeat account flagged the image and claimed he was “resting his eyes”.

Speaking to political blog Guido Fawkes, he revealed: ‘I am genuinely slightly deaf and struggle to hear.

“I had taken part in the debate and was trying to hear the wind ups”.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: ‘Newsbeat deleted the tweet when they realised the mistake and of course apologised as soon as they’d realised’.

ITV journalist Paul Brand also showed proof that Shelbrooke was awake, tweeting a picture of him with his eyes open just seconds before.