Brown apologises for letter of sympathy

Monday, 9 November 2009 2:09 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

The prime minister has apologised after misspelling the name of a mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Jacqui Janes said she felt "angry" after the letter of condolence sent to her from Gordon Brown began: "Dear Mrs James".

"He couldn't even be bothered to get our family name right. That made me so angry," Mrs Janes, 47, told the Sun.

"Then I saw he had scribbled out a mistake in Jamie's name.

"The very least I would expect from Gordon Brown is to get his name right.

"The letter was scrawled so quickly I could hardly even read it and some of the words were half-finished. It's just disrespectful."

The row comes just after Mr Brown was criticised in some quarters for failing to bow his head as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Brown said: "I take very seriously my responsibility to the bereaved.

"Every time I write a letter to mothers and fathers and partners who have suffered bereavement to express my sincere condolences, it is a moment of personal sadness to me. And I am in awe of the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces.

"I send a handwritten letter to every family and I often write to more than one member of the family," he continued.

"I have telephoned Jacqui Janes to apologise for any unintended mistake in the letter.

"To all other families whom I have written to, I can only apologise if my handwriting is difficult to read.

"I have at all times acted in good faith seeking to do the right thing. I do not think anyone will believe that I write letters with any intent to cause offence."

The prime minister's handwriting is infamously messy and illegible.

Following a childhood ruby accident, when he lost his sight in one eye, Mr Brown writes in a large black felt-tip pen.

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• foreign policy
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• middle east