LABOUR ACCUSED the Sunnewspaper yesterday of exploiting the grief of a mother whose son had been killed in Afghanistan in its reporting of her anger over a letter of condolence the prime minister sent in which he misspelt the soldier's name.
Jacqui Janes, the mother of grenadier guardsman Jamie Janes, who was killed on October 5th, received the letter days after her son's death. But, according to the Sun, Mrs Janes had read only the first few lines before she "threw it across the room in disgust".
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, said that although Gordon Brown’s handwriting was “not great”, people should understand that the row was being orchestrated by a paper that was actively campaigning against Labour.
Ian Austin, a junior communities minister, said the newspaper had “exploited” the mother’s grief.
Downing Street said Mr Brown called Mrs Janes on Sunday after he learned that she had contacted the newspaper. “He apologised for the letter and the way she feels about the letter,” the prime minister’s spokesman said.
Mr Brown, who writes a handwritten letter to the relatives of every serviceman killed in action, has notoriously bad handwriting. Some attribute this to his sight, which has been poor since a rugby accident in his teenage years left him blind in one eye.
The handwritten letter to the mother of Jamie Janes opened “Dear Mrs James”, and continued with what appear to be further spelling errors and a scribble through the final letter of the name Jamie.
Mrs Janes described the letter as "an insult" to her son (20), who died in an explosion while on foot patrol in Helmand province. "He couldn't even be bothered to get our family name right," she told the Sun. "That made me so angry. 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."
Mr Brown said in a statement: “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 . . .
“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.”
Lord Mandelson said it was “unthinkable” that Mr Brown would want to show any disrespect to Mrs Janes, or to any other bereaved relative. But he also said that the story had to be understood in the “context” of the fact that the Sun had chosen to “campaign against Gordon Brown and Labour” in the run-up to the general election.
The Sun, which announced during Labour's party conference in September that it would be backing the Tories at the next election, ran its story on the front page with the headline "Bloody shameful". Inside, an editorial said Mr Brown's "almost illegible" letter was evidence of his "underlying disregard for the military".