Why it’s (sometimes) wrong to do the right thing

Poor old Gordon Brown: he means well and wants to do the right thing, but he just doesn’t do it right.

The latest example is the letter of condolensce he sent to the father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2007. Whilst I am certain that he meant well, the letter was sent nearly 2 years after the soldier’s death and was accompanied with a staff written apology about the timing.

Of course he was trying to do the right thing, but the fact is that it was the wrong thing to do on this occasion. I would have expected the PM to have the nous to realise that it would make more sense to not write at all. Equally importantly I would expect his staff to be able to counsel him on a more appropriate course of action. The lack of awareness and the inability of the staff to influence are equally concerning.

Sometimes doing the right thing is the wrong thing to do.