Gordon Brown attacked over letter 'insult'

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by Damien

I am tempted to vote for whoever The Sun tells me not to vote for

lol

[Tarantella]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Stereotypical trashy tabloid blowing the story out of all proportion, not to mention the mother who's son died
It IS sad she's lost her son, but to write to the sun newspaper to complain about a handwritten letter, is insane
I think it's very decent of the PM to write to each family who's lost a relative in the war(s)

Insane ? Maybe. But Grief can take a long,long time to work its way out and newshungry newspapers with an axe to grind might think better before becoming involved in the process.

End of the day GB could have killed this straight off by just saying "i am sorry i made a mistake and i should have been more careful" but this is a man that seems incapable of doing that and how many times has his failure to admit any real personal responsibility come back and bitten him in the backside. I don't believe for one minute he meant to offend but the fact is he did and in doing what he did he handed the sun some ammo to use which a half smart politician wouldn't have done.

That's the problem with GB he isn't a smart politician he is a bully and seems to be unable to act any other way in dealing with things it's his way or no way and if it goes wrong then it's not his fault. Not exactly the type you want running anything if people are honest is it.

Originally Posted by RizzyKing

End of the day GB could have killed this straight off by just saying "i am sorry i made a mistake and i should have been more careful" but this is a man that seems incapable of doing that and how many times has his failure to admit any real personal responsibility come back and bitten him in the backside. I don't believe for one minute he meant to offend but the fact is he did and in doing what he did he handed the sun some ammo to use which a half smart politician wouldn't have done.

Any half smart politician would have sent out a template devoid of any content which could be interpreted as offensive. Just get a speech writer to type out a sweet letter, have the spin doctors comb though each word to ensure no dangerous ambiguity in any word and then just quickly sign in when an aide hands him it. Job done.

Truth is that in this case he made a mistake while attempting to do something decent. Those who dislike him, and have a unhealthy attitude to political debate, opportunistically used it as an attempt to attack him again.

Some people lost all perspective that they foam at the mouth whenever his name is mentioned and pilloried him instinctively.

[rogerdraig]

Originally Posted by Damien

I don't believe they are well equipped. It seems pretty certain they are not. I was saying in this case it wasn't a shortage of Helicopters that caused it (although it easily could have been).

they have always had to buy thier own kit which ever flavor of government was in

in this case though the main two things that are leveled at them by those who want to make them look bad is helicopters and armored vehicles

and as many solidness i know point out helicopters are not much use if your doing foot patrol because they want you to be seen to boost some confidence that they are there to help

and armored vehicles are only of use if your enemy hasnt got the brains to put a bigger bomb next time when the last didnt dent the new vehicles

he did something other PM's have not done and personally sent his condolences

i know the one who sent my uncle to the Falklands in an unarmored ship minus the anti aircraft missiles as they were considered to expensive didnt bother to do so

[Osem]

Originally Posted by rogermevans

they have always had to buy thier own kit which ever flavor of government was in

in this case though the main two things that are leveled at them by those who want to make them look bad is helicopters and armored vehicles

and as many solidness i know point out helicopters are not much use if your doing foot patrol because they want you to be seen to boost some confidence that they are there to help

and armored vehicles are only of use if your enemy hasnt got the brains to put a bigger bomb next time when the last didnt dent the new vehicles

he did something other PM's have not done and personally sent his condolences

i know the one who sent my uncle to the Falklands in an unarmored ship minus the anti aircraft missiles as they were considered to expensive didnt bother to do so

According to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349757.stm

It is official policy for the prime minister to write to the families of all service personnel killed in action while on operational duties.

and I believe Margaret Thatcher always wrote to the families of any soldiers killed in action although I don't know if her letters were hand written. Having said that if I had writing as illegible as the PM's I don't think I'd hand write such letters for the very reason that they'd appear very hurriedly composed.

Originally Posted by Osem

and I believe Margaret Thatcher always wrote to the families of any soldiers killed in action.

Not commenting on Thatcher but I believed the MOD drafted the letter and it was signed (maybe not even that) by the Prime Minster. It did not mean they wrote a hand-written letter to the families.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by Osem

According to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349757.stm



and I believe Margaret Thatcher always wrote to the families of any soldiers killed in action although I don't know if her letters were hand written. Having said that if I had writing as illegible as the PM's I don't think I'd hand write such letters for the very reason that they'd appear very hurriedly composed.

So he's not going out of his way to write a letter, it's something he has to do anyway?

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Damien

Not commenting on Thatcher but I believed the MOD drafted the letter and it was signed (maybe not even that) by the Prime Minster. It did not mean they wrote a hand-written letter to the families.

I've just dealt with the 'hand' written aspect in my previous post. In any event, given the rather shabby appearance of Brown's letter I'm surprised that it was sent in that form - it's hardly something which conveys great care and attention to detail so perhaps in such tragic circumstances someone in No. 10 should have made Mr Brown aware of that and opted for the word-processor....

---------- Post added at 14:31 ---------- Previous post was at 14:27 ----------

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

So he's not going out of his way to write a letter, it's something he has to do anyway?

A letter has to be sent by the PM but whether it has to be done by hand is unclear and frankly I'd doubt it. My real point is that PM's always send letters and in this case the whole hurtful furore would have been avoided if Brown had chosen to dictate and signed a letter.

[rogerdraig]

Originally Posted by Osem

According to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349757.stm



and I believe Margaret Thatcher always wrote to the families of any soldiers killed in action although I don't know if her letters were hand written. Having said that if I had writing as illegible as the PM's I don't think I'd hand write such letters for the very reason that they'd appear very hurriedly composed.

am talking about personally writing NOT signing a civil servant made up letter

as to the second bit i find it insulting as a dyslexic myself he bothered to do it personally

its well known as some seem to think his eye sight is also something they can use to bash him with and speculated ( i dont think he has ever said he is ) that he is dyslexic

to say that he has to use other ways to write when doing something personally makes my blood boil

he was not setting out policy or negotiating a deal he was just sending his personal condolences

Some have seen fit to exploited this grieving Lady who at that moment would have been upset by what ever means He had written to her as she obviously feels her son should have not been there and been safer if he was which is understandable

but hey maybe we should make it law that dyslexics must use computers to communicate an that people with less than 20/20 vision should not be allowed to manage anything


i did warn i bite on that subject

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

So he's not going out of his way to write a letter, it's something he has to do anyway?

I get letters signed by the heads of organisations expect I am not naive enough to think it was sent/written by them. It's not known if the letters were actually written by the Prime Minsters themselves but I think the suspicion is that it's not the case.

Here is the part after Osem's quote:

It is official policy for the prime minister to write to the families of all service personnel killed in action while on operational duties.

According to Ministry of Defence guidelines published on the Parliament website, the letter is drafted by military officials and should ideally be sent within two working days of the death being announced.

So these military officials 'draft' the letter on behalf of the PM and send it.

[rogerdraig]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

So he's not going out of his way to write a letter, it's something he has to do anyway?

Quote from article

It is official policy for the prime minister to write to the families of all service personnel killed in action while on operational duties.
According to Ministry of Defence guidelines published on the Parliament website, the letter is drafted by military officials and should ideally be sent within two working days of the death being announced.
The defence secretary writes to the families of members of the armed forces who die in service, including those not on operations.

Unquote


that is just a presaved letter with paste name address here instructions and sent to the PM's office maybe to be signed ore likely though just to be sent from there


not sitting down and personally reading the information he is provided by the ministry of defence then writing to the family in his own hand


so yes it is going out of his way

---------- Post added at 14:51 ---------- Previous post was at 14:48 ----------



lol Damien your quicker than me

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Has Brown sent hand written letters to every soldier that has died in action? I personally think he did this as some form of PR exercise, which has gone wrong.

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Has Brown sent hand written letters to every soldier that has died in action? I personally think he did this as some form of PR exercise, which has gone wrong.

Yes, It's been mentioned that he has. Check the article and there is a interview from someone else who received one before. It's just that it's only now, when she brought it to The Sun, that it's become public.

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by rogermevans

Quote from article

It is official policy for the prime minister to write to the families of all service personnel killed in action while on operational duties.
According to Ministry of Defence guidelines published on the Parliament website, the letter is drafted by military officials and should ideally be sent within two working days of the death being announced.
The defence secretary writes to the families of members of the armed forces who die in service, including those not on operations.

Unquote


that is just a presaved letter with paste name address here instructions and sent to the PM's office maybe to be signed ore likely though just to be sent from there


not sitting down and personally reading the information he is provided by the ministry of defence then writing to the family in his own hand


so yes it is going out of his way

---------- Post added at 14:51 ---------- Previous post was at 14:48 ----------



lol Damien your quicker than me

So much easier to write a shabby letter than turn up at an airfield and watch boxes being loaded into hearses.