The BBC and the rest of the lefty Twitter echo chamber are gleefully sending this picture of Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke viral. The nation’s broadcaster reckons he was asleep during last night’s debate on the Trade Union Bill:

The picture has been retweeted hundreds of times already. Just one problem: he was not asleep. That little thing you can see next to his ear is a speaker. Shelbrooke needed it to hear because he is partially deaf. He tells Guido:

“I am genuinely slightly deaf and struggle to hear. I had taken part in the debate and was trying to hear the wind ups. Seems a shame I get trolled due to being slightly deaf.”

Will the BBC apologise?

UPDATE: The Labour press team also shared the smear:

UPDATE II: This new picture from ITV’s Paul Brand proves Shelbrooke was awake:

UPDATE III: The Beeb offer their “heartfelt apologies”: