Gordon Brown said yesterday he had apologised to the grieving mother of a British soldier killed in Afghanistan, who had taken offence at a sloppily written condolence note from him.
Jacqui Janes had called the handwritten note, which appeared to misspell her son’s surname, a “hastily scrawled insult”.
In his regular press conference, Mr Brown expressed regret and blamed the incident on his poor handwriting.
“I apologised to Jacqui Janes yesterday for any mistakes that had been made,” he said.
“The last thing on my mind was to cause any offence to (her) and I think people know me well enough to know that it would never be my intention ... to cause any grief to a grieving mother.
“I understand very well the sadness that she feels, and the way that she has expressed her grief is something that I can also clearly understand.”
Mr Brown’s apology was made in a private phone call to Ms Janes, which she had taped and which was reproduced by the Sun newspaper, a critic of government policy on Afghanistan.
Downing Street said Mr Brown was unaware his conversation was being recorded.
In the call, Ms Janes, whose 20-year-old son Jamie was killed last month, confronted Mr Brown and said British troops lacked proper military equipment.
At the press conference, Mr Brown reiterated that the mission in Afghanistan was vital to Britain’s security and that there was a “plan to move things forward”. He also said troops were getting everything they needed and were being equipped in a way they had never seen before.
News of the recording emerged on the day the bodies of six servicemen – five of whom were shot by a rogue Afghan policeman – were being flown home.
Ms Janes told the prime minister her son bled to death because of a shortage of helicopters, a lack of manpower and underfunding of the military.
She also criticised him for the fact that she had to buy equipment for him before he was deployed.
“How would you like it if one of your children, God forbid, went to a war... and because of lack – lack of helicopters, lack of equipment – your child bled to death?” she asked. “I know that my son could have survived.”
Mr Brown replied: “I do understand but I think you have got to also understand that I feel very strongly about this as, as you do.”
During the conversation, Mr Brown sought to reassure her that no offence had been intended.
“My writing is messy, it is so bad that you can’t read it and I’m sorry about that but I have tried to write honestly and honourably about the contribution your son made...”
Mr Brown has also admitted having problems with his eyesight after a childhood rugby injury left him blind in one eye.
In an interview broadcast on TV stations later yesterday, an often tearful Ms Janes said she now accepted Mr Brown’s apology and denied she had been manipulated by the Sun for political purposes.
“He didn’t sound apologetic in the phone call, he didn’t actually apologise. Today he looked sincere, he looked humbled,” she said. “Anybody that knows me will know there is no way I can be manipulated by anybody or anything. Im doing this for me.”