He was born in Northern Rhodesia (modern-day Zambia), and educated at Edinburgh Academy. He is a keen follower of Heart of Midlothian F.C. and was a strong supporter of the campaign to prevent the sale of the club's Tynecastle stadium in 2004. He is a strong supporter of the Free Tibet Campaign and has introduced a Bill into the Scottish Parliament to introduce a levy on plastic bags in Scotland similar to the successful Irish plastic bag tax. He has been an Honorary Vice-president of English-Speaking Union Scotland.[citation needed]
In September 2006, the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee banned him for a week from attending full sessions and committee meetings of the Parliament for leaking details of the Shirley McKie case to a newspaper.