Ali
08-08-2005, 09:16 AM
Great parliamentarian who brought the Commons to its feet
By Sue Cameron
Published: August 8 2005 03:00 | Last updated: August 8 2005 03:00
Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, who has died at the age of 59, will be remembered, as he himself once intimated, not just as a Labour politician but as a parliamentarian, probably the greatest parliamentarian of his generation.
He made his name with a brilliant Commons speech excoriating the Conservative government for misconduct over the arms-to-Iraq scandal. His performance was all the more impressive because he had been allowed only a few hours to assimilate the long, dense and sometimes muddled report on the scandal by Lord Justice Scott.
His exit from high office, also over Iraq, saw him bitterly oppose the government's decision to take the country to war against Saddam Hussain in the Commons, again underlining his capacity to bestride the chamber.
Voicing the concerns of a large section of the electorate, he told the Commons: "Neither the international community nor the British public is persuaded that there is an urgent and compelling reason for this military action." When he sat down, close to tears, he prompted the first standing ovation in the history of the House.
In between these two high points in his career, Cook had been a controversial and not always successful foreign secretary; he had fought and failed to turn the House of Lords into a largely elected second chamber; he had "modernised" the Commons in a way that won initial applause but has subsequently attracted criticism; and he hit the headlines when Number 10 gave him only a few hours to choose between Margaret, his wife of 28 years, and the mother of his two sons, and his mistress Gaynor Regan, his appointments secretary. He chose Gaynor.
He had a first rate mind and a gift for oratory. Yet he was always a loner and his often prickly personality counted against him in the image-driven world of politics and diplomacy, as did his looks. Short in stature with gingery hair, a beard and gnome-like features, he himself once remarked that he had not got to where he was in life because of his appearance. And he had come a long way.
Born in Lanarkshire in 1946, Robin Finlayson Cook was the only son of a schoolmaster and a grandson of a miner blacklisted for his part in the 1926 general strike. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh, where his father taught science, and read English at Edinburgh University where he met Gordon Brown, later Labour chancellor. For a while Cook considered studying divinity but in the end he put his faith in politics.
A man of the radical Left, his talent meant he was always a Labour heavyweight. He played a significant part in Labour's ultimate victory by undermining the credibility of John Major's Conservative government. Cook's devastating critique of Tory conduct over Iraq contrasted strongly with the windy, ineffectual efforts of the then Labour leader, Neil Kinnock.
Cook feared the Foreign Office portfolio would keep him away from the heart of Labour decision-making. But when the party swept to power in 1997 he duly became foreign secretary.
Never a clubbable man, he found it hard to do business with "difficult" regimes such as China and Saudi Arabia.
Nor was he a great traveller, perhaps his heart was always at Westminster. Officials noted dryly that the continents of Africa and South America "don't get a lot of Robin's attention". He was, they said, a powerful lighthouse that illuminated only a small part of the sea.
Cook's relations with Tony Blair were not always easy. Some observers reckoned the prime minister feared that if old Labour ever came charging over the hill to sweep through the New Labour camp, Cook would be at their head.
More recently Cook sec-ured a rapprochement with Mr Brown, also a believer in "Real Labour".
After Labour's 2001 victory, Mr Blair moved him to the role of leader of the Commons. The demotion may have rankled but if so Cook hid it well. Throughout his long battles with the leadership over Iraq, he always acted with dignity and restraint.
As John Kampfner, Cook's biographer has said, had Mr Blair listened to Robin Cook's warnings, Britain might not be in the predicament it is in today.
What is certain is that Cook's integrity and courage in resigning over the war enhanced his own standing and at least as importantly the prestige and respect of the public for a political class that is all too often despised.
Sue CameronA sad day indeed. We need more politicians like Cook.
He should have been P.M. not that yellow-toothed, grinning idiot of a poodle Blair!
By Sue Cameron
Published: August 8 2005 03:00 | Last updated: August 8 2005 03:00
Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, who has died at the age of 59, will be remembered, as he himself once intimated, not just as a Labour politician but as a parliamentarian, probably the greatest parliamentarian of his generation.
He made his name with a brilliant Commons speech excoriating the Conservative government for misconduct over the arms-to-Iraq scandal. His performance was all the more impressive because he had been allowed only a few hours to assimilate the long, dense and sometimes muddled report on the scandal by Lord Justice Scott.
His exit from high office, also over Iraq, saw him bitterly oppose the government's decision to take the country to war against Saddam Hussain in the Commons, again underlining his capacity to bestride the chamber.
Voicing the concerns of a large section of the electorate, he told the Commons: "Neither the international community nor the British public is persuaded that there is an urgent and compelling reason for this military action." When he sat down, close to tears, he prompted the first standing ovation in the history of the House.
In between these two high points in his career, Cook had been a controversial and not always successful foreign secretary; he had fought and failed to turn the House of Lords into a largely elected second chamber; he had "modernised" the Commons in a way that won initial applause but has subsequently attracted criticism; and he hit the headlines when Number 10 gave him only a few hours to choose between Margaret, his wife of 28 years, and the mother of his two sons, and his mistress Gaynor Regan, his appointments secretary. He chose Gaynor.
He had a first rate mind and a gift for oratory. Yet he was always a loner and his often prickly personality counted against him in the image-driven world of politics and diplomacy, as did his looks. Short in stature with gingery hair, a beard and gnome-like features, he himself once remarked that he had not got to where he was in life because of his appearance. And he had come a long way.
Born in Lanarkshire in 1946, Robin Finlayson Cook was the only son of a schoolmaster and a grandson of a miner blacklisted for his part in the 1926 general strike. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh, where his father taught science, and read English at Edinburgh University where he met Gordon Brown, later Labour chancellor. For a while Cook considered studying divinity but in the end he put his faith in politics.
A man of the radical Left, his talent meant he was always a Labour heavyweight. He played a significant part in Labour's ultimate victory by undermining the credibility of John Major's Conservative government. Cook's devastating critique of Tory conduct over Iraq contrasted strongly with the windy, ineffectual efforts of the then Labour leader, Neil Kinnock.
Cook feared the Foreign Office portfolio would keep him away from the heart of Labour decision-making. But when the party swept to power in 1997 he duly became foreign secretary.
Never a clubbable man, he found it hard to do business with "difficult" regimes such as China and Saudi Arabia.
Nor was he a great traveller, perhaps his heart was always at Westminster. Officials noted dryly that the continents of Africa and South America "don't get a lot of Robin's attention". He was, they said, a powerful lighthouse that illuminated only a small part of the sea.
Cook's relations with Tony Blair were not always easy. Some observers reckoned the prime minister feared that if old Labour ever came charging over the hill to sweep through the New Labour camp, Cook would be at their head.
More recently Cook sec-ured a rapprochement with Mr Brown, also a believer in "Real Labour".
After Labour's 2001 victory, Mr Blair moved him to the role of leader of the Commons. The demotion may have rankled but if so Cook hid it well. Throughout his long battles with the leadership over Iraq, he always acted with dignity and restraint.
As John Kampfner, Cook's biographer has said, had Mr Blair listened to Robin Cook's warnings, Britain might not be in the predicament it is in today.
What is certain is that Cook's integrity and courage in resigning over the war enhanced his own standing and at least as importantly the prestige and respect of the public for a political class that is all too often despised.
Sue CameronA sad day indeed. We need more politicians like Cook.
He should have been P.M. not that yellow-toothed, grinning idiot of a poodle Blair!