Gordon Brown: I feel for Jacqui Janes's grief

PM says he understands pain of mother to whom he wrote controversial letter after her son died in Afghanistan
Gordon Brown on Jacqui Janes letter Link to video: Gordon Brown discusses Jacqui Janes letter

Gordon Brown today said he felt for the grieving mother who criticised him over a letter of condolence he sent after her son died in Afghanistan.

The prime minister, who described himself as a "shy person", used his regular press conference to explain a 13-minute telephone call, made on Sunday night, to Jacqui Janes, whose 20-year-old soldier son, James, was killed in Helmand province.

Janes asked him how he would feel if one of his children bled to death "because of lack of helicopters and lack of equipment".

"Today, I feel for the mother's grief," Brown said. "I understand the pain she's going through. It's a terrible personal sadness."

The prime minister, whose first child, Jennifer Jane, died shortly after she was born seven years ago, added: "I understand very well the sadness that she feels, and the way that she has expressed her grief is something that I can also clearly understand.


"That loss can never be replaced. You have got to take every day at a time ... over time, comfort comes from understanding that your son has played an important role in the security of our country and died in such a courageous and brave way that nobody will ever forget it."

Brown said he had apologised to Janes for mistakes he may have made in his letter and said he sometimes wrote to several family members such as the spouse and parents of mkembers of the armed forces killed in conflict.

"The last thing on my mind was to offend Jacqui Janes," he said. "I am a parent also. I understand the pain people feel for a loved one."

The prime minister acknowledged that he still had a duty to explain why British troops remained in Afghanistan and said that, although he was a "shy person", he still went around the country talking to people about the reasons.

"I have got to explain why we are in Afghanistan, and how we will leave," he said. "We have a plan to move things forward.

"We want to move district to district, make sure the government there is free of corruption. I've got a job to try to comfort the bereaved."

Brown said the government was "trying to protect the streets of Britain from al-Qaida" but added that it was "right for people to ask for explanations".

He was speaking as controversy over his letter, which Janes described as "disrespectful" because he spelt her son's name wrongly, grew.

The Sun today published a transcript and recording of the phone call in which Brown apologised to Janes for any mistakes in the letter.

She told him she believed her son would not have bled to death if more helicopters had been available to troops.

"I know every injury my child sustained that day," she said. "I know that my son could have survived, but my son bled to death.

"How would you like it if one of your children, God forbid, went to a war doing something that he thought, where he was helping protect his Queen and country and because of lack, lack of helicopters, lack of equipment, your child bled to death and then you had the coroner have to tell you his every injury?"

Brown told the press conference that it was "a time to reflect on the courage and sacrifice of our armed forces who in Afghanistan have laid down their lives to ensure our safety and security in Britain".

He was speaking shortly before the arrival at RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, of the bodies of six British troops, including five shot dead by a "rogue" Afghan policeman they were training.

Today's best video

  • The NSA files trailblock image


Find your MP

Today in pictures