If you make an enemy out of 'The Sun' newspaper, it certainly knows
how to twist the knife. If its latest attacks on the prime minister
are anything to go by, the Conservative Party can do without its
'help.'
Most fair minded people feel the prime minister is doing the right
thing sending handwritten letters to the next of kin of our troops
killed in action. He has very poor eyesight and writes using a
felt-tip pen because of this. He probably wrote the letter to Jacqui
Janes when he was very tired and seals the envelope himself. He
regards this as personal correspondence.
'The Sun' is trying to score cheap political points and is using a
mother's grief in the process. Publishing a transcript of a private
telephone conversation between her and the prime minister is
reprehensible. I'm sure Gordon Brown feels awful about this. His
sincere condolences have been twisted. This is not what politics ought
to be about.
--
Sent from my mobile device
1 comments:
What I find so difficult about this issue is that it is one in which I have no doubt Mr Brown's intentions are (unusually, perhaps uniquely) entirely genuine and beyond reproach.
The difficulty is that the issue is not one-sided. Letters are not only sent, they are also received. It is not enough that they are sent with the very best of intentions, it is also relevant to know of the effect they have on recipients.
You might well be correct in suggesting that Mr Brown both writes and seals the letters personally, although I have read that the content is (in substance if not in form) determined by senior military personnel.
Nonetheless, there are two factors that weigh against the Prime Minister.
First, he knows his eyesight is not good and that unintentional spelling or drafting errors might evade his inspection. If he wishes to keep this correspondence away from political staff he should at least ask his wife to review them so that such errors can be avoided.
Secondly, the letter to Mrs Janes contained crossings-out. That cannot have escaped his attention. There is simply no excuse for not taking a fresh sheet of paper and starting again so that the recipient cannot form the view that everything was rushed and treated with less than proper importance.
Post a Comment