It's not very often that I will stand up and shout out for Gordon Brown, but you have to be fair, and on this occasion I have to stand firmly on his side.

The top story on the BBC news today has been about a mother of a soldier, Jamie Janes, has criticised Gordon Brown for a scrawled letter of condolence that has miss-spellings in it.

Brown is in the habit of hand writing letters of condolence to the parents of all soldiers who lose their lives during the wars. He has long been criticised for his poor handwriting, and add to that his poor eyesite there could be a problem!

Mrs Janes, the soldier's mother, said the letter was a 'scrawled insult', and contained mistakes, such as the spelling of her son's name. Brown had written JAMES, instead of JANES.

I'd like to say to Mrs Janes....... whilst I feel for your loss - get real! How many political leaders would even take the trouble to write an individual letter, let alone HAND WRITE one? What would you like him to do Mrs Janes? Be sent back to the Marian Richardson School of Handwriting for corrective training?? Dictate it to an underling and just scrawl a signature on the bottom?

Gordon Brown is said to be mortified by the event and has apologised to Mrs Janes....... but..... he is still determined to carry on with his practice of hand writing letters of condolence.
Maybe he should print a disclaimer at the bottom..... THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN WITHOUT THE AID OF A SPELL-CHECKER!!!