The Letter

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Now I'm not really a fan of Gordon Brown but I really don't like The Sun's campaign against him. Picking on someone who struggles with their handwriting because they have poor eysite is a very shallow way of swaying political opinion.

It is understandable why the mother who lost her son is upset, but the actions of The Sun are despicable again.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2722174/Jacqui-Janes-Mr-Brown-listen-to-me-My-son-could-have-survived-but-he-bled-to-death.html

[Mark]

Having said that, his handwriting *is* shocking!

[Daniel]

I agree Jon, it's nothing more than an underhanded way of getting people to be even more against him. Personally I'd rather have Gordon than Cameron.

[Dave B]

I think that even the Sun may have to privately conceed that they've misjudged this one. Even on the Jeremy Vine show - the radio equivalent of the Daily Mail readers' comments page - the vast majority of callers were confused as to where the story is.

Yes he could have taken a bit more care, but at least he's bothering to put pen to paper and I'm sure the sentiment was genuine enough even if the spelling was a tad sloppy.

Using a mother's obvious grief as a way of exploiting (or more accurately, manufacturing) a political situation is a new low even for the Sun. And it's probably not a smart move recording a private conversation and distributing it without the consent of both parties - a criminal offence under RIPA - clearly orchestrated by the newspaper unless you belive that a grieving mother has recording equipment set up next to the phone just on the offchance.

Murdoch's Sky News led with this story for very nearly 7 minutes yesterday during breakfast, naturally plugging the Sun in the process, but I got the sense that their heart wasn't really in it.

I can't pretend to be a supporter of Brown (however, like Daniel, I say better him than the simpering bandwagon-jumping flip-flopping publicity-seeking git-magnet guffcloud that is Cameron); but this really is a storm in the proverbial.

[Daniel]

I think that even the Sun may have to privately conceed that they've misjudged this one. Even on the Jeremy Vine show - the radio equivalent of the Daily Mail readers' comments page - the vast majority of callers were confused as to where the story is.

Yes he could have taken a bit more care, but at least he's bothering to put pen to paper and I'm sure the sentiment was genuine enough even if the spelling was a tad sloppy.

Using a mother's obvious grief as a way of exploiting (or more accurately, manufacturing) a political situation is a new low even for the Sun. And it's probably not a smart move recording a private conversation and distributing it without the consent of both parties - a criminal offence under RIPA - clearly orchestrated by the newspaper unless you belive that a grieving mother has recording equipment set up next to the phone just on the offchance.

Murdoch's Sky News led with this story for very nearly 7 minutes yesterday during breakfast, naturally plugging the Sun in the process, but I got the sense that their heart wasn't really in it.

I can't pretend to be a supporter of Brown (however, like Daniel, I say better him than the simpering bandwagon-jumping flip-flopping publicity-seeking git-magnet guffcloud that is Cameron); but this really is a storm in the proverbial.
The one thing I'd like the media both print and TV to do is to show how Cameron, Blair or any other twonk would have been any better in the last few years we've had. I'm no big fan of Brown but I really don't think he's actually anywhere near as bad as people make him out to be. Up until the time the bomb the US manufacturered blew up he was the chancellor who'd led the UK through a period of great prosperity. The fact of the matter is that if Cameron was in power he'd be practically no better than Brown and Darling.

[christophulus]

Now I'm not really a fan of Gordon Brown but I really don't like The Sun's campaign against him. Picking on someone who struggles with their handwriting because they have poor eysite is a very shallow way of swaying political opinion.

It is understandable why the mother who lost her son is upset, but the actions of The Sun are despicable again.

Agree absolutely. The mother is obviously upset but I'm annoyed at the Sun for trying to spin this into something more than it really is, and she is at least complicit in this for letting them tape the phone call he made to apologise. For the first time in my life I'm actually siding with Gordon Brown over this :eek:

[MrJan]

Having said that, his handwriting *is* shocking!

So's mine though....and I've got two eyes.

[Sonic]

Now I'm not really a fan of Gordon Brown but I really don't like The Sun's campaign against him. Picking on someone who struggles with their handwriting because they have poor eysite is a very shallow way of swaying political opinion.

It is understandable why the mother who lost her son is upset, but the actions of The Sun are despicable again.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2722174/Jacqui-Janes-Mr-Brown-listen-to-me-My-son-could-have-survived-but-he-bled-to-death.html

I'm with you 100% on this.

The Family have my deepest sypathy and I don't want to sound flippant but everytime I heard the name I thought it was Jamie James. Only when BBC news underlined the incorrect spelling of the name did I realise it was Janes.

I am not a fan of PM Brown but the way the Sun are trying to force hime out of office by heartlessly using a grieving family may backfire on them and see support for Mr Brown increase in the polls.

On a side note I remember a similar story with G W Bush where he wrote down he needed a "comfort break" whilst at a conference of some sort and the papers went to town on his handwritting (which was a mixture of block capitals and small case). Pointless then, pointless now!

[wedge]

Other than than grieving for their beloved son I have little sympathy left for the parents.

Giving your kid that name and you're asking for trouble.

Good job it was Brown and not Bush.

[Dave B]

Oh dear, Sun, getting Jacqui Janes' surname wrong yourself. Could this be the very definition of "epic fail":

http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg-300x125.png (http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg.png)

http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/11/11/the-sun-shows-how-easy-it-is-to-get-a-name-wrong/

[Azumanga Davo]

Oh dear, Sun, getting Jacqui Janes' surname wrong yourself. Could this be the very definition of "epic fail":

http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg-300x125.png (http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg.png)

http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/11/11/the-sun-shows-how-easy-it-is-to-get-a-name-wrong/

Comedy gold. Imagine how peed she would be if she saw that... :/

[Daniel]

Oh dear, Sun, getting Jacqui Janes' surname wrong yourself. Could this be the very definition of "epic fail":

http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg-300x125.png (http://www.hurryupharry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/21oa2b5jpg.png)

http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/11/11/the-sun-shows-how-easy-it-is-to-get-a-name-wrong/
The comments on that story are GOLD :D I bet that Goldbug guy wished he'd never piped up :p

[Valve Bounce]

Having said that, his handwriting *is* shocking!

I think that he does have a very serious problem with writing; despite this, he made the effort to write a personal letter to the mother of the slain soldier. Gordon Brown has risen in my estimation many, many times - he did show that he cared. I am very sorry that the mother took it as an offence and took the opportunity, not only to rebuke him, but to make the rebuke public.

What else can I possibly say??

[Bezza]

The Sun have taken things too far, however it is Gordon Brown who has created this mess. It is not difficult to be able to spell somebodys name, and then spell in general. And surely with all the spelling mistakes he had someone to proof read the thing.

I understand the poor womans grief and anger. It would feel as if he's just casually written a note and stuck it in the post and expected that to classify as an apology.

The underlining factor is that our troops shouldn't be in Afghanistan in the first place. This was not Brown's initial fault but it was the fault of his government and predecessor.

I think we all need a fresh change and new impetus as per Blair in 1997 (which was in the end a letdown) - I believe Cameron and the Tories can offer that.

Otherwise, we will see the likes of the BNP gaining more votes.

[Daniel]

The Sun have taken things too far, however it is Gordon Brown who has created this mess. It is not difficult to be able to spell somebodys name, and then spell in general. And surely with all the spelling mistakes he had someone to proof read the thing.

I understand the poor womans grief and anger. It would feel as if he's just casually written a note and stuck it in the post and expected that to classify as an apology.

The underlining factor is that our troops shouldn't be in Afghanistan in the first place. This was not Brown's initial fault but it was the fault of his government and predecessor.

I think we all need a fresh change and new impetus as per Blair in 1997 (which was in the end a letdown) - I believe Cameron and the Tories can offer that.

Otherwise, we will see the likes of the BNP gaining more votes.
Cameron is nothing but an opposition man. When the government does something which is clearly common sense then he'll back them but other than this he just opposes everything he possibly can so as to score as many points as possible. Then he does cringeworthy stuff like trying to make out that Brown is indecisive by saying that he can't decide what biscuit to have in the morning with his tea. I mean wtf? If that is the strength of his ability to debate then my god if he's PM then we're all ****ed. I'm not a violent man but if I was Brown I would - because of the fact I couldn't do it myself with my bad eyesight - get someone to bludgeon the little arrogant twerp to death with the ceremonial mace thing in parliament then at least when I lose the election there might be a decent PM. As a person David Cameron is that person EVERYONE hated in school who got involved in school politics and who was quietly and maliciously manipulating things to his advantage. I can vote in the elections here and I'll vote for Brown and not because I think he will do a good job. But because he's not an a-hole.

[Malbec]

I'm quite grateful to the Sun actually. Up to now I thought that the families of dead soldiers got a pre-written Dear Mr/Mrs, sorry for your son/daughter's death (delete as appropriate) letter with a photocopy of the PM's signature at the end. Its nice to see that Gordon Brown takes the time out to write a handwritten letter to the parents himself and it is rather pathetic to attack him for spelling errors whilst doing so.

As for Brown and Cameron, it would have helped if Brown hadn't promised us years of endless growth thanks to his excellent financial management before denying responsibility when the credit crunch hit. Also, if anyone really believes the British economy will grow by 4% next year needs to have their head checked. That the PM believes so beggars belief.

Still, Brown is infinitely preferable to Blair. Thankfully we'll never have to see that idiot back in office again. As for the Conservatives, at least they are being honest, prepared to declare that public spending cuts are going to be required to cut state debt. Gordon Brown doesn't even have the guts to commit to anything, preferring to pretend that he can cut spending a little here and there without doing anything that will reduce service delivery whilst balancing the budget. You'd be a fool to believe his line.

[Valve Bounce]

The Sun have taken things too far, however it is Gordon Brown who has created this mess. It is not difficult to be able to spell somebodys name, and then spell in general. And surely with all the spelling mistakes he had someone to proof read the thing.

I understand the poor womans grief and anger. It would feel as if he's just casually written a note and stuck it in the post and expected that to classify as an apology.

The underlining factor is that our troops shouldn't be in Afghanistan in the first place. This was not Brown's initial fault but it was the fault of his government and predecessor.

I think we all need a fresh change and new impetus as per Blair in 1997 (which was in the end a letdown) - I believe Cameron and the Tories can offer that.

Otherwise, we will see the likes of the BNP gaining more votes.

You obviously know nothing about Dyslexia, and have little regard that the chap is more than half blind as well. So you want to rap the guy iover the knuckles that despite his handicap, he took the time to personally write the soldier's mother a letter.

OK! fair enough - that is just lack of knowledge on your part. But then to turn it into a political issue just shows how shallow your post really is.

Bezza! I thought you had enough of this forum and were going somewhere else? what happened? Didn't your posts go down that well there either?

[Bezza]

You obviously know nothing about Dyslexia, and have little regard that the chap is more than half blind as well. So you want to rap the guy iover the knuckles that despite his handicap, he took the time to personally write the soldier's mother a letter.

OK! fair enough - that is just lack of knowledge on your part. But then to turn it into a political issue just shows how shallow your post really is.

Bezza! I thought you had enough of this forum and were going somewhere else? what happened? Didn't your posts go down that well there either?

First of all - I studied dyslexia at university, so I know all about that thank you very much.

The guy is the prime minister of the country and CAN’T SPELL. He can’t even spell somebody’s right! I don’t care whether he has dyslexia or is half-blind, if so he can get one of his aides to proof read the damn thing before sending it out to a bereaved parent. Try and put yourselves in the shoes of the victim.

I didn’t turn any post into a political issue I was offering my opinion on matters raised above which if you’d have bothered to read properly you may well have realized.

Lastly, you final post is irrelevant to this debate so drop it.

[Bezza]

Cameron is nothing but an opposition man. When the government does something which is clearly common sense then he'll back them but other than this he just opposes everything he possibly can so as to score as many points as possible. Then he does cringeworthy stuff like trying to make out that Brown is indecisive by saying that he can't decide what biscuit to have in the morning with his tea. I mean wtf? If that is the strength of his ability to debate then my god if he's PM then we're all ****ed. I'm not a violent man but if I was Brown I would - because of the fact I couldn't do it myself with my bad eyesight - get someone to bludgeon the little arrogant twerp to death with the ceremonial mace thing in parliament then at least when I lose the election there might be a decent PM. As a person David Cameron is that person EVERYONE hated in school who got involved in school politics and who was quietly and maliciously manipulating things to his advantage. I can vote in the elections here and I'll vote for Brown and not because I think he will do a good job. But because he's not an a-hole.

You are not a violent man but you want to “bludgeon the arrogant twerp to death with the ceremonial mace”....

The rest of your highly irrational post is made irrelevant by your contradiction here.

You have a personal vendetta against Cameron quite clearly which you have not backed up with any evidence at all. I imagine you like Brown because it was so easy to get into this country when you came here a few years ago and a new government might make it more difficult!

[Daniel]

You are not a violent man but you want to “bludgeon the arrogant twerp to death with the ceremonial mace”....

The rest of your highly irrational post is made irrelevant by your contradiction here.

You have a personal vendetta against Cameron quite clearly which you have not backed up with any evidence at all. I imagine you like Brown because it was so easy to get into this country when you came here a few years ago and a new government might make it more difficult!
Nothing to do with that :) It wasn't actually easy to stay in the country. Cameron wouldn't change immigration laws with regards to Commonwealth citizens as they're reciprocal I believe and lots of Brits like to go to Australia and have a working holiday.

P.S Bezza, although we don't always see eye to eye on things I'm glad you didn't leave the forum :up:

[Valve Bounce]

First of all - I studied dyslexia at university, so I know all about that thank you very much.

The guy is the prime minister of the country and CAN’T SPELL. He can’t even spell somebody’s right! I don’t care whether he has dyslexia or is half-blind, if so he can get one of his aides to proof read the damn thing before sending it out to a bereaved parent. Try and put yourselves in the shoes of the victim.

I didn’t turn any post into a political issue I was offering my opinion on matters raised above which if you’d have bothered to read properly you may well have realized.

Lastly, you final post is irrelevant to this debate so drop it.

If you have studied dyslexia at university, then how come you don't realise that people with dyslexia have great difficulty in spelling? The fact that the chap is half blind only makes it much more difficult, a fact that you seem to ignore. Just because he is PM doesn't mean he can spell perfectly if he decides to pen a personal letter himself without any prompting from an aid. In fact you wrote "He can’t even spell somebody’s right!" which doesn't make any sense at all.

Yes! you did turn your post into a political issue which had absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Just read the last three sentences of your post.

And lastly, the final sentence of my post refers to the rubbish that you wrote in your post, which may not have met with much success elsewhere either. So it is relevant.

[Bezza]

If you have studied dyslexia at university, then how come you don't realise that people with dyslexia have great difficulty in spelling? The fact that the chap is half blind only makes it much more difficult, a fact that you seem to ignore. Just because he is PM doesn't mean he can spell perfectly if he decides to pen a personal letter himself without any prompting from an aid. In fact you wrote "He can’t even spell somebody’s right!" which doesn't make any sense at all.

Yes! you did turn your post into a political issue which had absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Just read the last three sentences of your post.

And lastly, the final sentence of my post refers to the rubbish that you wrote in your post, which may not have met with much success elsewhere either. So it is relevant.

Yawn! Get off your high horse.

I made a typo, boo-hoo, missing the word "name" out from my post. Funnily enough I forgot to proof read it, therefore ending up not noticing a mistake - how ironic, except Brown made quite a few - and spelling somebodys name wrong, in such an important matter - is critical.

No rubbish in my posts, Valve, just personal opinion. Now get back to topic.

[Valve Bounce]

Yawn! Get off your high horse.

I made a typo, boo-hoo, missing the word "name" out from my post. Funnily enough I forgot to proof read it, therefore ending up not noticing a mistake - how ironic, except Brown made quite a few - and spelling somebodys name wrong, in such an important matter - is critical.

No rubbish in my posts, Valve, just personal opinion. Now get back to topic.

Don't tell me you want to compare your composing ability with that of someone who is half blind and who is afflicted with Dyslexia?

And your political opinions, which may be entirely correct I would concede, have absolutely nothing to do with Gordon Brown's letter, the subject of this thread.

And by the way, you forgot the apostrophe in somebodys in you post. I normally don't go around correcting mistakes in other people's posts, as I often make many myself when I spell the as teh, I just want to make the point that mistakes are not uncommon. You see, when a person with Dyslexia writes James, he can look at it ten times and it could still look like Janes.

At least he didn't get a minion to send off a standard letter with his signature printed. Think about that instead.

[Mark]

I think Gordon has learnt a valuable lesson after this episode, and thats not to send personally written letters to families who have lost a loved one on active service. I think a standard letter with a gap for the person in question's name to be added later would avoid this type of public backlash.


Really?

You think a relative getting a letter saying

I am sorry to hear that ...... henners88 ..... was killed in action in ...... Tesco's meat counter ..... His actions were a credit to ..... England ..... and the ..... 88 ..... family.

Best Regards

Gorden Broon.

[ShiftingGears]

Yawn! Get off your high horse.

I made a typo, boo-hoo, missing the word "name" out from my post. Funnily enough I forgot to proof read it, therefore ending up not noticing a mistake - how ironic, except Brown made quite a few - and spelling somebodys name wrong, in such an important matter - is critical.

No rubbish in my posts, Valve, just personal opinion. Now get back to topic.

I don't see the big deal.

He f***ed up, but at least it was a sincere personal apology. Too bad the person receiving it didn't see it the same way.

[Valve Bounce]

No Mark, but I think we need to look into having a Sarcasm smiley introduced to the smilies menu at the side. ;)
:)

Just for you 'h', :rolleyes:

[Valve Bounce]

Yawn! Get off your high horse.



OK! my posts may be way off line, so I'll make you a deal:

I get off my horse and you step down from your soap box! Agreed? :p :

[MrJan]

I still don't understand the fuss, when I heard the news I had to wait for a caption before I knew if it was James or Janes and as he was probably told by a secretary or it filtered down a line I think it's perfectly understandable. After all there are people called James but I haven't heard of anyone called Janes before.

[Valve Bounce]

OK! I think the problem with Gordon Brown's letter stems from his affliction of Dyslexia. I knew this is a serious problem, but I didn't know it was this bad. So I looked it up in Google, and apart from many other issues, this is what I found regarding spelling:

"Vision, Reading and Spelling
• Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
• Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences or verbal explanations.
• Reading or writing shows repetition, adding words, transposing, omission, substitution, reversal of letters, numbers and/or words.
• Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing or copying.
• Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don’t reveal a problem.
• Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
• Reads and re-reads with little comprehension.
• Spells phonetically and inconsistently."

I think this is a reasonable explanation for The Letter

[Valve Bounce]

I'm sure something was lost there, but I won't explain Valve.. I'm done with the politics... :p

Hold your mouse's pointer to the :rolleyes: smilie and you will read what it says. :eek:

Regarding your second post, you really need to look up Dyslexia in Google and check out the many symptoms, not just the spelling, to fully realise the handicap he has overcome.

I was stunned.

[Sonic]

now that peace and love had returned to the forum I'll throw my two cents in. I thought it strange that the letter could have been delivered without proof reading; and then the tought occured to me that it probably was. If his handwritting is that bad all the time it would be nigh on impossible for the poor sap tasked with checking his letters all day every day.

Peace and love people. x

[Mark in Oshawa]

From Afar, I think the Sun used the man's dyslexia against him in an unfair way, and my respect for Brown the man has gone up by reading about how he sends his condolences by hand written letters. However, he of all people should know that a misspelled letter could be seen to have shown contempt for the victim and his family.

I may not be on Brown's side on politically on some issues, but as a man, I think he is a good one. If I lived in Britain, from what I have seen I wouldn't know who to vote for. The Tory leader is a doofus, and the Labour PM is a good guy with politics I don't like..yikes...