THE loyalty and affection shown by HUGH BROWN (Obituaries, 14 March) for his Provan constituents were never in doubt, even on the day when, after a visit to one of his flock who lived in a high rise flat, he returned to his car to find it neatly perched on four small piles of bricks. An understanding and forgiving man indeed.
Hugh was also a popular Under Secretary of State who was particularly at home with housing and social issues that were so relevant to his area. For his sins, however, he also had to cope, as part of his ministerial duties, with the complexities of ag
ricultural and fisheries matters that were of rather less concern in places like Provan.
He was also blessed with a pawky sense of humour. This was particularly in evidence at a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels in 1977 shortly after the UK had, much against the wishes of the rest of the community, unilaterally closed the North Sea to herring fishing because of the badly deteriorated state of the stock.
This decision was particularly unwelcome to the Dutch who argued that it was imperative that they have a small token quota of herring for the purposes of their traditional Matjes Festival later in the year.
Hugh, who on this occasion was part of the UK delegation, had the task of rejecting the Dutch request, which he did by commiserating with them and suggesting that haggis might make a good substitute for their festival. This was received with general puzzlement round the table and among the poor interpreters, to be shortly followed by much laughter, except from the Dutch. I do not recall, however, that they held it against him for long.
The full article contains 290 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
