A Labour MP has denied falling asleep during an emergency Commons debate on the war in Afghanistan, although he admitted the pictures look "awful".
On Monday afternoon TV footage of appeared to show Stephen Pound nodding off while sat behind MP Denis MacShane, who was questioning the defence secretary about the deaths of two British soldiers.
His head bowed particularly when MacShane began quoting war poet Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum est.
Pound, a shadow Northern Ireland minister, said the angle of the cameras made him look like he was sleeping when he was in fact checking his phone.
The Labour MP said received a number of "aggressive" emails overnight accusing him of being disrespectful to British troops but insisted that was not the case.
Pound said: "I just don't understand what this is all about. I had actually been on my feet at 3.30pm, I was talking in local government questions, and I was on the radio at 3.50pm.
"The pictures are awful. I was actually looking down at my phone.
"I didn't fall asleep in the Chamber, particularly not in such a sensitive discussion as that. I was obviously looking at my phone.
"I feel dreadful. I have had letters calling me a complete murderous bastard, emails to my general account. It's fairly aggressive stuff.
"Never in a million years would I be disrespectful, particularly on an occasion like that."
You can judge for yourself whether you think Pound was sleepy or simply looking at his mobile by skipping to 6 min 52 sec here.