accident? fallen down a mountain??
details are highly sketchy at the moment

bad time to be a politician
what with robin cook and mo mowlem both very ill

Just in he has died - all the good ones are going

That's really sad, he was a real quality and genuine politician. One of the few. Put his principles first before the party line. One of the cleverest speakers and able to argue his points extremely eloquently.

Would have made a great leader if he were more photogenic. But sadly we live in such shallow times,.

ooh look our threads changed.....how disorientating

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4127654.stm)

Sky says 'heart attack' (http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1191423,00.html)

He was a good fella and was the local MP for my area back in the day.

EDIT, sorry, no I was thinkin of Robin Corbett :blush:

Oh dear - what is it with Edinburgh politicians and heart-attacks? We lost John Smith the same way. :(

StarSparkle

i was gonna take bets on whod go first robin cook or mo mowlem
but i think robin was already dead when they announced he was ill

thats cheating

Originally posted by StarSparkle
Oh dear - what is it with Edinburgh politicians and heart-attacks? We lost John Smith the same way. :(

StarSparkle

Probably these (http://www.punditmark.com/archives/DeepFriedMarsBar.jpg) :cry:

He'll be sadly missed. A brilliant speaker - his resignation speech is one of my favourite commons moments of the last ten years.

One of the few politicians who was prepared to stand up for what he believed to be right. By resigning over the issue of the Iraq war, Robin Cook put principles before his own career.

He would, as has already been said, have made a good party leader and Prime Minister.

Very sad news.

RIP Mr Cook.

My condolences to his family and colleagues :(.


.

Great speaker, great politician.....and he laughed at his Spittin Image puppet. Decent geeza.

What a shock! He was one of the 'good uns'. :(

Originally posted by rudeboy
Great speaker, great politician.....and he laughed at his Spittin Image puppet. Decent geeza.

He was about the only one who could take that joke. Another goodie dying before their time :(

Joel

Originally posted by Joelc
He was about the only one who could take that joke. Another goodie dying before their time :(

Joel

one of the goodies has died too?

oh ecky thump

which one?
not tim brooke taylor i hope?

Another goodie dying before their time

one of the goodies has died too?

oh ecky thump

which one?
not tim brooke taylor i hope?

I shouldn't laugh on such a sombre thread.....but that is funny.

This is a real shock! My respect for this man went through the roof when he stood up to Blair and said the war in Iraq was wrong and was, I believe, the only cabinet minister who had the guts to do this. A sad loss for British politics.

There were hundreds of Labour MPs who did not want the war in Iraq.

Robin Cook was the only one who had the guts to say what he believed in.

Whatever your political beliefs, you have to respect the man, he showed the rest of the Labour Party up for the spineless wastes of space that they are.

Rest in Peace.

I feel for his wife - they haven't been married that long :(

so sad, he was a great leader :(

R.I.P

I doubt his first wife, who he was married to for 28 years until he traded her in for his aide, would agree he was a man of principles.

Originally posted by karenjane39
I doubt his first wife, who he was married to for 28 years until he traded her in for his aide, would agree he was a man of principles.

None of us know what went on in their relationship.

Originally posted by Andy
None of us know what went on in their relationship.

No, we don't, but anyone should realise that it's not terribly hnourable to ditch your wife of 28 years in an airport departure lounge.

I don't believe he would have made a good PM or Labour Leader - he had an occasional habit of not stopping after he'd won the argument. It could sometiems come over as triumphalist, which is not a pleasant personal attribute for a Statesman.

Whilst he was principled enough to resign over his views on Iraq, it should be remembered that he was instrumental in the NATO attacks on Kosovo in the 1990s. It's been argued that some of the terms and conditions put to the Serbs before that assault were almost inevitably going to be rejected and thus precipitate an attack.

In addition, he was very proud Foreign Secretary at a time when we were supposedly having an 'ethical Foreign Policy' - which led to the UK Government :

1. Being soft on sanctions on Burma.
2. Allegedly giving ministerial permission to an intervention in a coup in Sierra Leone (and at the same time breaking a UN embargo) (The Government were cleared by teh Legg report, but mud sticks.)
3. Selling jet aircraft to Indonesia that were capable of being used in ground attack roles in East Timor.

Cook himself also supported air-strikes on Iraq in the late 1990s.

Whilst he clearly exhibited principles, they do seem a little selective.

Joe

A grand orator, will be sadly missed.

It must have taken a lot to stand against Blair on Iraq, regardless of previous blunders. Respect.

Originally posted by JoeP
No, we don't, but anyone should realise that it's not terribly hnourable to ditch your wife of 28 years in an airport departure lounge.

I don't believe he would have made a good PM or Labour Leader - he had an occasional habit of not stopping after he'd won the argument. It could sometiems come over as triumphalist, which is not a pleasant personal attribute for a Statesman.

Whilst he was principled enough to resign over his views on Iraq, it should be remembered that he was instrumental in the NATO attacks on Kosovo in the 1990s. It's been argued that some of the terms and conditions put to the Serbs before that assault were almost inevitably going to be rejected and thus precipitate an attack.

In addition, he was very proud Foreign Secretary at a time when we were supposedly having an 'ethical Foreign Policy' - which led to the UK Government :

1. Being soft on sanctions on Burma.
2. Allegedly giving ministerial permission to an intervention in a coup in Sierra Leone (and at the same time breaking a UN embargo) (The Government were cleared by teh Legg report, but mud sticks.)
3. Selling jet aircraft to Indonesia that were capable of being used in ground attack roles in East Timor.

Cook himself also supported air-strikes on Iraq in the late 1990s.

Whilst he clearly exhibited principles, they do seem a little selective.

Joe

Excellent post again Joe (of the quality forumers have come to expect from you). Most of the other comments on this thread, and also the bulk of the media coverage, have eulogised Cook, playing down his flaws or even ignoring them. His resignation from the government following the invasion of Iraq, and his subsequent resignation speech in parliament, seem to have created something of a halo effect around his reputation. You have rightly pointed to some of the flaws in his record and possibly in his character also. I think it is ironic that Cook is now probably most closely associated in the public mind with his resignation over Iraq. But he was foreign secretary when the US and the UK were bombing Serbia (as you rightly say on dubious grounds - and in my view with supporting evidence of the quality we were later to see in relation to the government's claims about Iraq and WMD)) and also Iraq at various times when sanctions were in place. You may remember that at this time the Serbian TV station was bombed, killing mainly cleaners and other low level staff, together with various other targets which led to a lot of collateral damage (including many civilian deaths). He was foreign secretary when the Croats attacked Krajina, killing many Serb civilians. Moreover, the side he supported in the Kosovan conflict (i.e. the Albanian majority) have subsequently behaved atrociously to the remaining minorities (mainly Serbs and Gypsies), including behaviour which can only be described as ethnic cleansing.

Cook was removed from the post of Foreign Secretary by Blair. I have wondered what Cook would have done had he been Foreign Secretary in 2003, when Blair was so clearly set on an invasion of Iraq. Would he have resigned then? Or would he have put his undoubted eloquence at the service of the government, justifying the invasion (as Jack Straw has done, although of course much less eloquently than Cook was capable of doing).

Originally posted by LordChaverly
Most of the other comments on this thread, and also the bulk of the media coverage, have eulogised Cook, playing down his flaws or even ignoring them.

Can people not pay respects to a politician whose actions they admire in recent times, regardless of their previous mistakes?

Originally posted by JoeP
No, we don't, but anyone should realise that it's not terribly hnourable to ditch your wife of 28 years in an airport departure lounge.

I don't believe he would have made a good PM or Labour Leader - he had an occasional habit of not stopping after he'd won the argument. It could sometiems come over as triumphalist, which is not a pleasant personal attribute for a Statesman.

Whilst he was principled enough to resign over his views on Iraq, it should be remembered that he was instrumental in the NATO attacks on Kosovo in the 1990s. It's been argued that some of the terms and conditions put to the Serbs before that assault were almost inevitably going to be rejected and thus precipitate an attack.

In addition, he was very proud Foreign Secretary at a time when we were supposedly having an 'ethical Foreign Policy' - which led to the UK Government :

1. Being soft on sanctions on Burma.
2. Allegedly giving ministerial permission to an intervention in a coup in Sierra Leone (and at the same time breaking a UN embargo) (The Government were cleared by teh Legg report, but mud sticks.)
3. Selling jet aircraft to Indonesia that were capable of being used in ground attack roles in East Timor.

Cook himself also supported air-strikes on Iraq in the late 1990s.

Whilst he clearly exhibited principles, they do seem a little selective.

Joe

well he is only human, none of us are perfect :)

Whatever his personal life was, good or bad in "some peoples opinion"at least he had the b---- to say what he believed.

Robin Cook came to Sheffield in April this year, during the general election campaign. I was privileged to be in the audience at one meeting, and to see the man, and hear his legendary oratorical skills. He made you laugh, and he also made you sit up and think. He challenged government interventionist policies in Iraq, whilst declaring his core values as a Labour politican.

Robin Cook did horse racing tips for a local newspaper, and was widely regarded as a man of the people. He was a principled man, who resigned his Cabinet post with honour and integrity. He will be sorely missed by his constituents in Livingston, by the Labour Party, by the House of Commons, and not least by his wife, family and friends.

Originally posted by Tigs
Can people not pay respects to a politician whose actions they admire in recent times, regardless of their previous mistakes?

If people admire Cook, of course they can.

It's just that, to be frank, I didn't particularly admire the fellow when he was alive, so I won't be a hypocrite when he's passed away.

I feel sorry for his family and friends, and he did undeniably bring excellent debate and Parliamentary skills to the House. As John Donne pointed out, the death of one diminishes us all. I won't be nasty to the man, just flag up the other points in his career that have been missed on this thread by other posters.

Joe

Originally posted by melthebell
well he is only human, none of us are perfect :)

Absolutely - but most of us don't aspire to high office. If you state your principles in public, and purport to live by them, then you need to be able to live up to them.

I'm far from perfect; when I pop off I'm sure that people will make my ears burn :)

Joe

I'm not a big fan of politics but it is sad to hear he's dead

Originally posted by JoeP


I'm far from perfect; when I pop off I'm sure that people will make my ears burn :)

Joe People? You mean satan;)

I cant belive the way the BBC went on about his death on the news. :loopy:

Forget about those poor b******* stuck at the bottom of the ocean, there far less imoptant that some mp kicking it. :rolleyes:

I had no time for his political views and he was not an honorourable man when it came to his marriage but he at least had the guts to stand by what he beleived in visa vee the Iraq war and there are not too many left who would have done that.
My thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0807-22.htm

More love less hate.

Originally posted by mr craig
I cant belive the way the BBC went on about his death on the news. :loopy:

Forget about those poor b******* stuck at the bottom of the ocean, there far less imoptant that some mp kicking it. :rolleyes:


Have a word with yourself please :loopy: