FFS he is half blind

[Fabster]

Gordon Brown does not have full eyesight and that is why his writing isn't great. A name that has been spelt wrong is easily done and does not mean that he doesn't care.

I am no fan of GB at the best of times but I think this is just too much when he can hardly see.

Oh dear, double post.

Sorry - computer glitch.

I love the way I get called a NuLab sycophant when its common knowkledge on ehre that I am a member of another party PMSL

God, the agendas people on here have; domn't hate GB = NuLanb Sycophant. Or have a personal opinion, perhaps?

All the Gordon Brown bashing at the moment is pretty sickening, and amounts to nothing more tha bullying IMO.

It was a mistake, we all make them. I can't believe this gets national press coverage to be honest with you.

Have voted Tory all my life - would never vote for Brown but IMO it means more that he made the effort to write personally when it is obviously a task which does not come easily to him. Why is it that those who are grieving these days think its OK to bleat to the media about everything. Can't imagine what motivates someone to share such a personal thing as a letter of condolence with the Sun.

at fembear's spelling mistake while she's busy telling GB off for, um, making a spelling mistake.

(And I've never seen D Blunkett's handwriting so no idea if it is messy - would guess so since he can't see it. Maybe he uses Braille exclusively and has someone type it up or something, I have no idea.)

My writing is appalling too, like edam I smooth over a lot of letters so M looks like N etc and you often can't really tell letters are there as it's all part of a general scribble

There are times mistakes are more serious and less forgiving, writing to a mother who has lost her son fighting a political war overseas really is one where he should have checked, double checked and an aid could have checked again.

Aaargh. I apologise profusely and unreservedly for my spelling mistake. As a pedant, I am ashamed.

Ah, Madame, a fellow crap handwriter! My mother tries to comfort me by saying my scrawled signature looks like I'm a Very Important Person who signs lots of letters (I used to have the sort of job where I did). But I find it really hard to write out my full name in cards or on forms because I do it so rarely. Handwriting's like anything else, lack of practice makes it poor and I type and use shorthand so don't do much at all.

I don't think it was a mistake, though, so checking wouldn't have helped - I think his 'n' just looks like an 'm'. The reverse of my 'm' looking like an 'n'.

I am impressed to know that GB actually wrote to the family concerned. It shows a compassionate and caring man.

Mistakes, well yes, obviously there were a few too many, but I dont think he deserves the bad press really.

I can understand the mother is taking out her anger in this way, but thats forgiveable.

You can be sure that if he had typed it, rather than written it by hand, he would have been pilloried for not taking the trouble to hand write it. The guy can't win.

I think the BBC are making something bigger than it is. It is nothing to do with how people feel about the war and whether we should be there or not.

He wrote a letter and made mistakes. It happens.

I don't think he made mistakes - it is just that his handwriting is so bad that is looks wrong - eg es looks like an s - I am sure he knows how to spell - it is just a physical lack in the output.

Agree, that's exactly the impression my handwriting gives. The letters are there but my writing is so rubbish and flows so fast it looks like some are missing. Reminds me of Eric Morecombe's comment about his piano playing - all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order!

For fucks sake, all this guff about him being "caring and compassionate" - it's his JOB. Blair wrote when he was PM, Thatcher wrote to the families of men who died in the Falklands. It is expected, it's not because he's a nice guy. And he has a staff to check things, for crying out loud this is the Prime Minister of our country, do you know how many private secretaries etc he has?!

It is absolutely appalling, and the poor vision argument is a total red herring.

Of course it's his job but it's unfair to carp because someone has rubbish handwriting especially when they have a visual impairment.

This man has DIED in the service of his country, it is absolutely not unreasonable to expect a letter of condolence from the PM to be checked to ensure it is correct, especially if you know that the writer has difficulty seeing!

But I think it was correct - it's just his handwriting is poor. Mine's the same - letters smoothed out so Ms and Ns look the same etc. etc.

There were 20 errors in the letter, not just that one

I would be very surprised if most people didn't know GB was visually impaired. There was a big who-ha over the summer because of a leaked report about his eyesight check at Moorfields. He is completely blind in one eye and has poor sight with his 'good' eye.

The pedantic, 'PMs should be held to the highest standards' side of me thinks that letter should never have been sent without being checked for complete howlers like getting the recipient's name incorrect, particularly when it's a letter of condolence. On the other hand, reading articles like this makes me understand a bit better how appallingly hard it must be to write letters without a single mistake in them when you have serious eye problems.

Surely, somebody could have gently pointed out the problems with that letter? Perhaps the culture around GB is such that human spell-checking is a no-no. But what does that say about the culture and standards at the heart of government? It's awful that this has been broadcast, a bereaved mother is even more distraught and the PM is excruciatingly embarrassed. But ffs, who let this happen??

Difficult to know how it can be avoided - a typewritten letter risks giving offence. Even if you write the salutation and sign-off in long hand, in a letter of condolence. And the PM can hardly spend his time writing and re-writing letters. A typewritten letter with a line saying 'apologies for typing this, as you know I have poor eyesight' would be a gift to The Sun and all and it might sound like an excuse.

I dunno, anyone got any bright ideas?

I can't believe the hoo ha over this.Considering all that is going on in the world this is just tabloid nonsense.The intention was good but the spelling was bad a bit like you know who