to think that Gordon Brown was writing with good intentions to the mother of the dead soldier.......does handwriting really matter??

[SquirrelTrap]

I think it is all rather unfair.

I would prefer a scrawled personally written letter than a spell-checked standard Word document letter? I think it is all rather nasty.

I agree too. I can see why those involved took offence but the media furore is just an excuse to bash him IMO

i agree he had good intentions and didnt have to write them letters. thats what you get for being nice. i suppose he was too busy running the country to worry about spelling mistakes

What's this story? I've missed it.

I have a longer thread on this and therefore I agree with you.

I have to say I agree. The man only has one (not very good) eye.

BUT someone should check these things for him.

By the way, how wrong did he get the name? I only saw the front page of The Sun.

I agree - He didn't have to write at all.

a bit like looking a gift horse in the mouth

It is most tiresome that the media constantly try and set the agenda when in fact they are simply out for their own vested interests.

I was happy to receive ANY letter when I was recently bereaved. In fact I was overwhelmed with the time people took to write to me. This story simply does not reflect what most people would think - surely?

I agree - what an odd thing for a grieving mum to do - to go to a national newspaper and whinge to them about the PM's handwriting

but would you go to the press with your offence? or would you think it to yourself and move on?

If you can't be bothered to do something properly don't do it at all.

If you are going to write a personal letter of condolence then you need to have the names spelt correctly.

If you can't be bothered then outsource it to someone who might check.

Janes and James - it wasn't like the letter was addressed to Mrs Smith ...

He didn't get it TOTALLY wrong though herbie, he mixed up one letter? It is just an excuse to be nasty and probably for The Sun to exploit a grieving mother for their own gain

So it doesn't matter. Inaccuracies and slap dash are acceptable?

Perhaps he should have just sent a text?

Agree

Murdoch wants Brown out and Cameron in so that Cameron will break up the BBC and distance the UK from Europe - then only things Murdoch really cares about

All else (including manipulation of a grieving mother) is means to this end.

His writing is really bad. He's never going to b able to talk about education again, without this being brought up. He misspelt more than one word.

Am I right in thinking that it was spelt as James when it should have been Janes ? I know by ex boss - Ms Janes spent an incredible amount of time correcting people who wrote or pronounced her name as James. I am not a fan of GB but I think on this issue the scum Sun has jumped on a vulnerable womans grief as a weapon to beat him with. And that's more worthy of contempt that a spelling mistake surely?

I would have sent it back with spelling mistakes red penned and asked him to redo it. There is no excuse for it.

He DID have to write Nettee; he is the one responsible for keeping the troops there; the buck stops with him, and he has a moral obligation to write those letters, just as the Colonel of the regiment will have done. To get the name wrong is inexcusable. As for looking a gift horse in the mouth - why is getting a letter from GB on the occasion of your son's death a gift horse? Surely better to have your ds still alive?

Quite agree with Herbie - the troops are out there underequipped because GB didn't invest the money when Chancellor, and hasn't as PM. By his own admission he doesn't understand defence.

Clarice - it was quite a lengthy letter. It was personalised.

I think a small inaccuracy is acceptable, yes. It is a minor point in a very large picture.

The mother is clearly grief stricken, she has just lost her son. The Sun should not exploit her anger and grief for their own purposes. It stinks and is more underhand and pathetic than someone trying to comfort a mother who has lost their child, and unintentionally making a spelling mistake.

I was thinking the same about David Palmer Ruby!

He got his name wrong in Parliament too when he read it out back in Oct - maybe he was given the wrong information? I know he doesn't have fantastic eyesight.

calricebeansmuym - you are being silly.

He quite probably misheard when told it was Janes and heard James.

I think people are using this to score points against him and it is below the belt.

Did Blair right to the parents whose children died after he sent their children to war?

Have seen it now, I think he's just got VERY bad handwriting which is why - even if someone did check it - you wouldn't spot it.

Apparently he writes with a very thick pen, because of the eyesight thing.