Robin Cook dies aged 59 after heart attack
By Torcuil Crichton
Robin Cook MP, who resigned from the Cabinet in protest over the Iraq War, died last night after collapsing while hillwalking in the Highlands.
Cook, 59, was on holiday with his second wife Gaynor when he fell ill with a suspected heart attack near the summit of the 2365ft Ben Stack in Sutherland, in the far northwest of Scotland.
Police received an emergency call at 2.23pm from the mountainside and a rescue helicopter from RAF Stornoway airlifted Cook to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, landing there at 4pm. A passing group of walkers had tried in vain to assist Cook, one giving him CPR while receiving advice from ambulance personnel in Inverness.
However, Cook was pronounced dead within minutes of arriving at the hospital. News of his death was confirmed at 6.50pm by police.
Cooks death leaves a vacuum of informed dissent inside the Labour party and has robbed the anti-war movement of a figurehead who provided reasoned argument with a degree of honour.
Tributes poured in last night for the Livingston MP, who had been at the forefront of politics since he first entered parliament in 1974.
He was widely recognised as one of the best parliamentary orators of modern times, and enhanced his reputation with his resignation as Leader of the House of Commons on the eve of the invasion of Iraq.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is on holiday, described him as an outstanding and extraordinary talent.
Blair said: Though we disagreed over Iraq, I always respected the way in which he put his case. His contribution to the politics of Britain was hugely significant. His contribution to the Labour Party was immense. He will be missed and mourned by all of us.
Chancellor Gordon Brown paid a lengthy and fullsome tribute, underlining the fact tha the long-running feud between the two had been buried, and that Cook could have expected to return to government in another Labour administration.
Brown said that the former Foreign Secretary would be mourned around the world: I admired and valued Robin as a colleague and friend and as one of the greatest parliamentarians of our time.
With his death so sudden and unexpected, the tragic loss to his family, his constituency, our party and our country is all the greater and is most keenly felt by all of us who knew him and will now miss him greatly.
His wife Gaynor and his two sons are in our thoughts and prayers.
Robins mastery of the House of Commons was acknowledged on all sides. His books and articles as well as his speeches confirmed him as a singular political talent, a colleague whose sharp analysis and shrewd tactical sense were matched by great insight and political courage.
All of us recognised that his disagreements over Iraq arose from principle.
A strong European, a committed internationalist, and a distinguished Foreign Secretary with friends in every country, he will be mourned greatly not only by his family, friends, colleagues and constituents, but in every continent of the world.
Conservative Party leader Michael Howard said Robin Cooks contribution to British politics was immense, and said he counted the former Foreign Secretary as a friend. He was a politician of principle who fought hard for the things he believed in.
He will be greatly missed.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: Robin Cook was the most formidable parliamentarian of his generation.
His intellectual rigour and his lancing wit made him the best debater in the House of Commons. In opposition he took the scalps of many ministers, and in government he was rarely bested.
More recently, our views about Iraq have been entirely the same. I feel I have lost a close friend and a loyal ally, irrespective of party.
Leader of the Scottish National Party and fellow racing tipster, Alex Salmond MP, said: Robin Cook was a considerable political force throughout his time in politics. Most recently, his eloquent opposition against the war in Iraq was an inspiration to many.
His wit and wisdom will be greatly missed by MPs from across the House of Commons.
George Galloway, the Respect MP who often clashed with Cook, said the news was shocking and distressing. The former Labour Party member acknowledged that Cooks resignation from the government had strengthened the anti-war camp tremendously.
Robin Cook was one of the greats of the Labour movement in my lifetime. Of course we had some differences, but his principled and courageous resignation before the war wiped out all of those.
He wa brilliant orator and a brilliant brain and was just getting back into a rich vein of parliamentary form that would have surely taken him back to the top in Labour politics in any new admin-istration.
The Labour movement is poorer by far for his passing.
Labour peer Lord Foulkes, a former international development minister, said he had known Cook since they were at Edinburgh University in 1963.
This is a tragic loss for the Labour Party and for the House of Commons. He was one of the best debaters in the house, able to demolish the Opposition with a wonderful combination of wit and invective. What he achieved in politics was through a combination of great ability and hard work. History will judge him as one of the greatest Foreign Secretaries ever.
His wife is believed to have stayed on in the rented accommodation they were sharing. She is not believed to have visited the hospital.
There was delay in announcing his death while his close family and friends were contacted.
Bill Spiers, general secretary of the Scottish TUC, summed up the shocked reaction across the country to the announcement of Cooks death.
Robin Cook is one of those people who you think is always going to be there, he was part of the furniture of the Labour movement.
Ive known Robin for a quarter of a century and the thing Ill always remember is that he always put what was right ahead of what was best for Robin.
07 August 2005
Robin Cook njihet per kontributin e tij ne ceshtjet tona kombetare, sidomos ne ceshtjen e Kosoves.
Ngushellime familjes, Britanise, shqiptareve dhe gjithe botes per humbjen e nje njeriu kaq te madh si Robin Cook.
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