Edinburgh Evening News


THE family of the late Leith MP Ron Brown are to stage a "colourful and lively" farewell to the maverick politician.
Mourners will sing the Red Flag at a humanist ceremony at Warriston Crematorium tomorrow to pay respects to the former Labour government whip.
Trainspotting publisher Kevin Williamson, who discovered Irvine Welsh, will read one of his poems and Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox MSP will pay tribute.
The family of Mr Brown, who represented Leith at Westminster from 1979 to 1992, said they wanted the ceremony to be as colourful as the man himself.
The readings are expected to include anecdotes about Mr Brown rollercoaster career which regularly saw him hitting the headlines.
Despite a promising start to his political career, he is probably best remembered for grabbing and dropping the House of Commons mace as he protested against the Poll Tax, and being on friendly terms with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya.
After the funeral service, mourners will be invited to the Botanics, where one of his passions New Orleans jazz will be celebrated in a performance by the band Criterion.
Instead of flowers donations are to be invited to the Retired Greyhound Trust, a cause close to Mr Brown's heart.
His own greyhound, Big Mac, who had previously raced under the name Sir Rochester, was his constant companion for many years.
About 200 people are expected to pack the chapel tomorrow, at 1pm, with more likely to be waiting outside.
Mr Brown's son Gavin, 38, a gas engineer from Leith, said: "It will be a lively service with a number of people giving readings and telling jokes.
"Kevin Williamson will be reading one of his own pieces.
"He was involved in the political movement with my dad, who enjoyed creativity and was supportive of anyone who was creative.
"Colin Fox will also say a few words.
"The ceremony is going to be a flavour of my dad's life, which was a colourful thing.
"It's not going to be dour - it's going to be sad and painful, but we'll have a few laughs. It will be a knees-up to celebrate his life."
Tributes have flooded in for Mr Brown, who was described as a popular and hard-working MP, following his death from liver disease at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last Friday.
Mr Fox, for whose Scottish Socialist Party Mr Brown unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in 1999, described his comrade as "utterly irrepressible".
He said: "He was a friend as well as a comrade and I will be paying tribute to the fact that Ron Brown changed the world.
"Ron had a wicked sense of humour and he thought nothing of telling a few fibs.
"He lied about his age and his height - he used to wear wedges in his shoes.
"He had mischief in his eyes and it was terrific to be in his company because he had hundreds of stories. He was utterly irrepressible.
"Ron Brown was Mr Leith, he was a Leither. He loved the people of Leith and he had his feet firmly planted in Leith Walk, in Great Junction Street, and in West Pilton where he came from."