Gordon Brown apologised today after it emerged that he failed to write to three families whose relatives were killed in combat.
The Prime Minister ordered a review into why the three, who died in 2007, had not received a handwritten letter of condolence.
The omissions came to light after the family of Territorial Amry Trooper Jack Sadler told the BBC they had not received a letter when he died in 2007. His father, Ian Sadler, from Exmouth, Devon, said he only received his letter of condolence last month. An undated letter arrived on November 17 this year, shortly after the row over the Prime Minister’s handwriting in a letter he sent to Jacqui Janes, the mother of a dead serviceman.
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Today’s review quickly established that Trooper Sadler’s letter was one of three which went unsent that year.
Mr Sadler said: “Jack was killed on December 4, 2007, and I received a letter of condolence from the Prime Minister with no date on it on November 17, 2009.
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“I have a letter apologising, not from the Prime Minister, but from Jeremy Heywood, who is his permanent secretary, apologising that an administrative mistake resulted in my not receiving a letter from the Prime Minister.
“It’s not good, is it? Nearly two years later and the PM hasn’t apologised, just his aide.”
Mr Sadler added: “It goes to show what this present administration thinks of our soldiers.”
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A Downing Street spokesman said tonight: “We can confirm that the Prime Minister has written to the relatives of the three servicemen who lost their lives in 2007 but who had not previously received letters. These letters were sent together with an apology from the Permanent Secretary at No10 Downing Street.
“To the best of our knowledge, there are no outstanding letters from 2008. We can also confirm that the Prime Minister has written letters to all the families bereaved in 2009. A new system has been put in place to ensure there will be no repeat of the errors made.”
The review, by 10 Downing Street’s most senior civil servant Jeremy Heywood, will be completed “as soon as possible”, said the spokesman.
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Trooper Sadler died in December 2007 when his vehicle hit a landmine in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Mr Brown apologised for the oversight when he appeared at a press conference in Downing Street.
“As you know, I write personally to every family, and where there has been an unacceptable error, for which I apologise unreservedly, and a letter has not been sent, I have been made aware of this,” he said.
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“I wrote to the relevant families immediately and expressed my condolences.
“I’ve also ordered an urgent review to ensure that any other cases were identified and we can make sure that this did not happen again.
A Tory frontbencher said yesterday the Prime Minister should keep out of writing letters of condolence to bereaved forces families and instead leave them to the Queen.
Julian Lewis, shadow defence secretary, said Gordon Brown was in trouble again over a “botched letter” and had also “damaged his serious message on terrorism” by referring to al Qaida as “Alky Aida”.
He said it would be “more appropriate” if letters of condolence were left to the monarch.
Harriet Harman, Commons leader, said Mr Brown was “a human being who understands the dreadful bereavement of those who have lost a child”.
Mr Lewis said: “The Prime Minister damaged his serious message on terrorism by insisting on referring to something he always called Alky Aida. Today he’s in trouble again over a botched letter of condolence to a bereaved service family.