The boy behind the man

This piece in the Telegraph about Brown’s upbringing is well worth reading. It gives you an idea of how precocious Brown was and how early he developed his sense of social mission. But there’s also an early foretaste of his puritanism:

“In April 1962, aged 11, he wrote an article about a church campaign in favour of television commercials against the twin demons of alcohol and tobacco. Gordon concluded his piece with a typically opinionated flourish: “Let us hope that this plan will be a success and that the sale of drink and cigarettes to the younger and older generation will fall when these [commercials] against drink and cigarettes are shown.”