Gordon Brown is in trouble, in a most unexpected way. He sent a hand-written letter of condolence to the mother of Jamie Janes of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who died in action on 5th October. Clearly this was meant as a kind and thoughtful gesture, possibly motivated by the fact that Mr Brown knows what it is to lose a child.

The unfortunate thing is that the letter appeared to spell Jamie's name incorrectly, was badly written and contained spelling mistakes. Mrs Janes, who must be in agony at the loss of the son, has taken offence at this. Every newspaper in the land is now reporting the story and a telephone conversation between the PM and Mrs Janes can be listened to online.

This is perhaps a battle that Mr Brown was never going to win. A printed letter could easily have been judged disrespectful. Sending no letter at all would have been worse. So, Mr Brown, with his rubbish eyesight, appalling handwriting and over-full schedule chose to send a handwritten note to Jamie's mother. In this particular case, he got it wrong. That said, other families who have lost a son will have drawn great comfort from a handwritten letter from the PM, regardless of spelling and handwriting.

The press need to give Gordon Brown and Jacqui Janes a break on this one. Brown was obviously trying to do the right thing. Mrs Janes is beside herself with grief. No one is going to benefit from keeping this story in the headlines, least of all Jacqui Janes and her family.