Downing Street Says » Letters to bereaved families

Asked what the process was regarding the Prime Minister’s letters to bereaved families, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that the journalist was referring to the story about the letter to Jacqui Janes, which had been reported in the press. The first thing to say was that the Prime Minister took enormous care and time in writing to the families of those who were bereaved due to conflict. The Prime Minister personally wrote to every family to acknowledge the debt of gratitude owed by the country to those who had died to protect the people of Britain, and he would never knowingly misspell or incorrectly address such a letter.

We would not go into the process, but the Prime Minister took writing these letters extremely seriously and they were given a great deal of care and attention. Jacqui Janes had been upset by the letter she received, which the Prime Minister completely understood, and he had spoken to her and apologised for any upset she felt.

Put that the Prime Minister knew that he had misspelt the name because he had crossed it out, the PMS said that there was no suggestion that these letters were treated with anything other than great care and attention. They were very difficult letters to write because they were to people who had lost loved ones in conflict and any suggestion that the Prime Minister did not take enormous care over them was simply not true.

The Prime Minister had made very clear to Jacqui Janes that if there was any suggestion that he had misspelt a name and caused offence by doing so then he was deeply concerned. The suggestion that the Prime Minister wrote these letters in a way that was anything other than with the dignity of the office he held was completely inappropriate.

Put that the letters weren’t necessarily checked before they were sent and if they were checked the person doing so did not feel they had the authority to challenge the Prime Minister, the PMS said that he didn’t think it was possible to read into this whether or not anyone had the authority to “challenge the Prime Minister”. The fact remained that the Prime Minister wrote these letters by hand; everyone’s handwriting was different and some peoples’ handwriting was easier to read than others, and everyone acknowledged that the Prime Minister’s handwriting was of a particular style, which was not a criticism of the Prime Minister. He was writing to people who had suffered a grievous personal loss and it was entirely right that the Prime Minister should write in personal terms to people who had suffered through the loss of a loved one who had fought for their country.

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Jacqui Janes, the PMS said that we had made clear that the Prime Minister had spoken to Jacqui Janes as soon as he was aware of how she felt; they spoke on the telephone last night. The Prime Minister was mortified to think that he could possibly have offended a mother whose brave son had died in conflict.

Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister had apologised for making a mistake in the letter or just for the offence caused, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had phoned Jacqui Janes to say that he was very concerned to think that a letter he had written could have caused offence; it was obviously not his intention to cause offence when writing such a personal letter to someone who had suffered terrible personal tragedy.

Asked how the Prime Minister had found out that Jacqui Janes was upset, the PMS said that it was drawn to the Prime Minister’s attention by a national newspaper.

Put that when the Prime Minister had read out the names of the fallen at the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) this autumn he had got the name wrong and asked if it was the case that the name was wrong on the list that the Prime Minister had been working from, the PMS said the Prime Minister prepared very carefully in advance of PMQs when reading out something of such importance. If the Prime Minister had stumbled over a particular name then he would be very sorry. As Prime Minister he had the solemn duty to read out the names of those who had died while serving their country and he took it very seriously.

Asked for details of the Prime Minister’s conversation with Jacqui Janes, the PMS said that it was not appropriate for him to discuss this private conversation in detail. The Prime Minister had wanted to phone Jacqui Janes and talk to her about her reaction to the letter.

Put that the Prime Minister laboured over the letters to make sure that the sentiment was appropriate but that the handwriting and spelling were of less concern, the PMS said that that was not correct as it suggested that the Prime Minister did not give attention to all aspects of the letter. As was well known the Prime Minister’s handwriting, like everybody’s, was somewhat unique and therefore some of it was less legible than others’. The Prime Minister believed that it was right for him to write personally to people by hand.

Asked if the Prime Minister wrote other letters at the same time as writing these personal letters to bereaved family members, the PMS said that he might have a number of letters to write in one sitting but he always took care and attention when writing personal letters.

Put that the Prime Minister was happy to apologise for the effects of his actions but not specifically for his actions, the PMS said that the idea that the Prime Minister would ever willingly offend a member of a family who had lost a loved one was completely wrong. The Prime Minister had unwillingly caused offence in his letter to Jacqui Janes and was sorry for that.

Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that he could have written a better letter to Jacqui Janes, the PMS said that if the question was whether or not letters could be written better then or course they could, but we were dealing with individual letters that the Prime Minister wrote to members of families who had been deeply affected by the death of a member of their family and the Prime Minister took this very seriously.

Asked if there were mistakes in the Prime Minister’s letter to Jacqui Janes, the PMS said that the journalist’s question suggested there were and Jacqui Janes clearly felt that there were, but the Prime Minister would never willingly write a letter with deliberate mistakes in it.

Put that the PMS was saying that Jacqui Janes had made a mistake in misinterpreting the letter and that the Prime Minister was apologising for her mistake, the PMS said that that was not the case and the sequence of events was clear; Jacqui Janes had been upset by the letter she received from the Prime Minister, which he wrote in good faith; the letter had been drawn to the attention of the Prime Minister and as a result he had picked up the phone and called Jacqui Janes directly.

Asked if the Prime Minister’s eyesight was getting worse and if it had contributed to difficulty in writing the letter, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made a statement about his eyesight a month or so ago; he reported that he had regular checkups and that there had been no deterioration in his eyesight. Everyone was familiar with the fact that the Prime Minister suffered an injury whilst playing rugby when he was younger, which meant he lost the sight in one eye, but there had been no deterioration in his eyesight.

Asked if the Prime Minister would continue to handwrite letters in the future, the PMS said that he believed that it was the most appropriate way to write to people who had suffered this sort of bereavement. The PMS went on to say that he did not envisage the Prime Minister changing his approach.

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» Monday, November 9, 2009

Letters to bereaved families

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