Gordon Brown Makes Rare Appearance In Commons

Rare Sighting Of Ex-PM In The House

There was a rare sighting at Parliament on Wednesday night when Gordon Brown spoke in the House of Commons for only the second time this year.

The former prime minister was taking part in an adjournment debate over concerns of a radiation risk in Dalgety Bay in Fife, which is part of his constituency, and urged the defence minister, Andrew Robathan to "fund remedial work" as soon as possible.

Brown, who was supported by a number of Labour MPs in the commons, has only previously spoken twice in this parliament following his defeat in the 2010 General Election, first in November 2010 in another adjournment debate on aircraft carriers and in July this year during the debate on the Rupert Murdoch BSkyB bid.

Robathan, who was interrupted three times by the former Labour leader, told the House that the risk to public health "remains low" before adding "What a pleasure it is to discover how many people are concerned with the issues in Dalgety Bay."