[1][3] He worked as an electrician with the electricity board and later Bruce Peebles & Co. Ltd.[3] He became an active member of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW).
[1][2] Brown was selected to stand for Edinburgh Leith in 1979, following the decision of Labour MP Ronald King Murray to retire.
On 18 April 1988, Brown grabbed the House of Commons mace and threw it to the floor, damaging it, during a debate on the poll tax.
He was quoted as saying -[8] If trade unions were allowed to operate in the British armed services as they are in Sweden, injustices of the kind I suspect would not occur.
[9] He warned against Western support of the mujahideen rebels against the Soviets saying, "They are Muslim fanatics and they disagree with the extension of basic human rights.
[1] Brown was invited to attend a conference in Libya which was being held to mark the fifteenth anniversary of Colonel Gaddafi taking power.
The visit proved controversial but Brown defended the move saying he wished to discuss the imprisoned Scottish engineer Robert Maxwell as well as the industrial dispute at the Jana news agency.
[10] Following the United States invasion of Grenada, Brown called for the Trades Union Congress to back a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
[11] Brown met with KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky during the Cold War, the first meeting being in Annie's Bar at the House of Commons.
[13] In 1989 Brown was tried on charges of theft (including jewellery and two pairs of women's underwear) plus criminal damage of £778 worth of property to his mistress.
[17] After leaving the House of Commons he remained active in public life, acting as president of the Edinburgh Trade Union Council.