A BBC radio comedy quiz looks set to stir up a huge storm of protest after panelists made jokes over the death of Jamie Janes - the British soldier killed in Afghanistan.
The Radio 4 show "The News Quiz" began with a routine that poked fun at Gordon Brown over the affair in which he was forced to apologise to the mother of the Grenadier Guardsman after he mis-spelt her son's name in a letter of condolence.
But the show's chairman Sandi Toksvig, and panelists Rory Bremner and comedienne Holly Walsh poked fun, not only at the Prime Minister, but also at Mrs Janes over the aftermath of the death of her 20-year-old son..
Gordon Brown had told Mrs Janes he meant "no offence" by the gaffe-strewn letter, which began "Dear Mrs James" and included a mistake in soldier Jamie's name that was hastily scribbled over.
Mrs Janes, 47, spoke of her outrage at receiving Mr Brown's "disrespectful" letter and, speaking in to The Sun newspaper, she said "He couldn’t even be bothered to get our family name right. That made me so angry."
Downing Street later claimed the Prime Minister spent a great deal of time writing to bereaved families of fallen soldiers and would never knowingly misspell anyone’s name. He later made a personal phone call to Mrs Janes to apologise for any offence.
But The News Quiz sequence on the affair appeared to make an even BIGGER BLUNDER but poking fun at Mrs Janes and her reaction to the letter.
Rory Bremner said: The only good thing about this story is that The Sun - having decided to come out against Gordon Brown - has managed to do in the space of one week what Labour spin doctors have never managed, and that is to get the public on Gordon Brown's side.
"Poor old Gordon Brown. There he is. He's only got one eye, he hasn't slept for ten years. English is his second Language, Elton John has offered to adopt him. And he thought he would write this letter of condolence, and the mother of this boy who has been killed in Afghanistan objected - understandably perhaps .
"And she then got in touch with The Sun - less understandably - and The Sun thought: "Oh, poor, poor woman... but what a GREAT story!"and it all went on from there.
"He ended-up making a telephone phone call didn't he. Gordon Brown rang-up at ten o'clock at night and said: 'Hello... Downing street here. Will you accept the charge?'
"You just think that Tony Blair would have handled it so differently. He would have turned-up in a suit made out of Poppies and made her a cup of tea.
"And by the end of the conversation he would have said, 'Well, you know, okay, I'm so sorry... glad we sorted that out... and can I sell you a set of replacement windows?"
The show's chairman, lesbian comic Sandi Toksvig said: "I felt really sorry for him. And I actually thought the letter was not disrespectful. Better than when he sacked Hazel Blears. That was just one of those Emoticons with a sad face. "
Rory Bremner replied:"It's difficult it comes back to the thing about one eye again. He has no parallax. He can't judge distance. He knows he's in trouble, but he can't tell how deep!"
Comedienne Holly Walsh interjected: "It would have been more disrespectful if he had written it in comic sans."
Summing-up the item Sandi Toksvig added:"Gordon Brown's attempt to off his condolences to a grieving mother backfired after she criticised him for making mistakes and allowed The Sun to publish a transcript of his telephone call.
"Mrs Janes described the letter as 'A hastily scrawled insult'. I think you will find, Mrs James, that The Sun is a hastily scrawled insult!".
Guardsman Jamie Janes, from Brighton, was a member of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards.
He was killed in an explosion while he on a foot patrol near Nad-e-Ali district centre in Helmand. Three of his colleagues were also wounded in the blast on 5 October.
He was buried with full military honours on October 22nd.
A BBC spokesperson, said: "The week's main news stories are usually discussed in satirical topical programmes such as the News Quiz.
"The story regarding Gordon Brown's letter is no exception. It was not the intention of the programme to cause any offence to the Janes family."
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