Dyslexic MP Peter Kyle hits back at Twitter trolls for ‘brutal’ criticism of his spelling mistakes

An MP with dyslexia has criticised trolls on Twitter for targeting him over his spelling mistakes.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove, said the social media platform could be an “unforgiving place for people with unseen challenges” and revealed he is often branded as “thick” and told he shouldn’t be an MP if he “can’t even spell”.

“Every day I get picked up on something I write,” Kyle wrote.

"Mostly it’s kindly or humorous which is appreciated. Sometimes it’s sneering or brutal."

Kyle, who has a PhD in community development from the University of Sussex, went on to explain what it is like to have acute dyslexia, describing it as feeling as though his eyes and brain are not connected.

"Sometimes words are just shapes. However much I try to engage my brain, the connection just isn’t there. I can see the shape but it simply has no meaning. Frustrating, huh," Kyle said.

The MP then detailed a recent time he was criticised by the “spelling police” admitting he had misspelt "border" as "boarder" in a tweet.

"Most people were forgiving, hundreds were not: ‘thick’/‘can’t be an MP if you can’t even spell’/‘stupid’/‘resign and let someone with a brain take over’ etc,” Kyle wrote.

Kyle added that the incident reminded him of the times his dyslexia caused him embarrassment at school, including being forced to read Shakespeare aloud to the class “one painful word at a time”.

He recounted how he left school initially with no qualifications before returning to university, aged 25, then going to gain his doctorate.

“Above all I know I must work harder than most to achieve the same: prepping, writing, corresponding, reading...everything!” Kyle added.

"This isn’t depressing, it’s liberating. Once you know this you have the tools to succeed.

“And every challenge for a dyslexic is matched with a gift.”

Kyle said that he would never get members of his staff to check his tweets for mistakes despite having been urged to do so by people on Twitter.

“So if you’re part of the spelling police there’s 649 other MPs out there, enjoy!” he continued.

"If sincerity is what matters most to you, then welcome!

“And if after all that you still want to hurl insults the very least you can do is get my name right...it’s Dr Thick to you!”

Kyle has been widely praised for his candid Twitter thread, with fellow Labour MPs Harriet Harman and Yvette Cooper among those to commend him.

Harman said “everyone needs to read this thread”, while Cooper called Kyle’s post “really inspiring”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock also tweeted: “Massive respect to Peter Kyle for speaking out so openly about his dyslexia.”

Helen Boden, chief executive of the British Dyslexia Association, welcomed the MP’s decision to discuss his dyslexia “publicly and positively“.

"Peter's frustrations with being assumed stupid by a niche who think grammar is synonymous with intelligence are echoed by millions of dyslexics," she told the BBC.