Sir Gus O’Donnell is the British government’s cabinet secretary. In other words, he’s a pretty top civil servant. His job is to make sure that ministers and their advisers uphold agreed values and codes of conduct.

So it’s a surprise to find him making a common mistake in a statement he issued about the recent ‘smearmail’ scandal that has engulfed Gordon Brown’s office. Read all of this

This blog is about the blunders everyone makes when they write. And occasionally about the opposite – inspiring examples of excellence. I hope to add an actual example every few days, collected from the sea of print that surrounds us. Read all of this