AN MP has revealed how he struggled through his education because of dyslexia.

Hove and Portslade MP Peter Kyle made the revelation after being called “thick” for misspelling words on his social media account.

The Labour Party politician said: “Every day I get picked up on something I write.

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

In a recent post in which he spelled “border” with an additional “a” he received a large number of insulting messages.

Mr Kyle said: “Most people were forgiving, hundreds were not.

“(Comments included) ‘thick’ , ‘you can’t be an MP if you can’t even spell’ , ‘stupid’ and ‘resign and let someone with a brain take over’.”

So he decided to make a statement on living with acute dyslexia... a reading disorder.

He said: “What’s it like? Imagine a car where the gearbox, my eyes, isn’t connected properly to the engine, my brain.

“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.”

He shared a memory of his time at Felpham Comprehensive School (now community college), near Bognor when his dyslexia had affected his education.

Mr Kyle said: “At school a teacher forced me to stand and read Shakespeare. I did it one painful word at a time.

“The teacher and some kids thought it very amusing. Most looked at the floor in embarrassment or pity.

“I was put into ‘remedial’, a class with kids experiencing quite severe learning and behavioural difficulties.

“I was sent to a quack doctor who make me wear a wooden contraption on my head every evening.

“This was the 1980s not the1880s. I knew none of this was right for me.”

He said that, though most teachers and staff were kind and he had a lot of affection for his school, he “hated education” and left “without any usable qualifications”.

Mr Kyle, now 49, said he had last had his reading and comprehension assessed when he was 30, being told he was working at an age of eight years and three months.

But he returned to education aged 25 and, on his third attempt, was accepted at the University of Sussex.

He left six years later with a degree and a doctorate.

Mr Kyle joked to his critics, “it’s Dr Thick to you”.

He said: “To the people who say ‘get a member of staff to check your tweets before you send them’ I respectfully say never.

“I’d rather they spent their time doing something valuable like helping the people who turn to us in times of need, not checking my boring old Tweets.

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

“If sincerity is what matters most to you, then welcome.”