Robin Cook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of theParty of European Socialists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 June 2001 – 24 July 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rudolf Scharping | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Poul Nyrup Rasmussen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 June 2001 – 17 March 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Margaret Beckett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Reid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Malcolm Rifkind | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jack Straw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Robert Finlayson Cook (1946-02-28)28 February 1946 Bellshill, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 6 August 2005(2005-08-06) (aged 59) Inverness, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Grange Cemetery,Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cook on Serbian cooperation with theICTY following theoverthrow of Slobodan Milošević Recorded 9 October 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Finlayson "Robin"Cook (28 February 1946 – 6 August 2005) was a BritishLabour Party politician who served as aMember of Parliament (MP) from1974 until his death in 2005 and served inthe Cabinet asForeign Secretary from1997 until2001, when he was replaced byJack Straw. He then served asLeader of the House of Commons from 2001 until 2003.
Cook studied at theUniversity of Edinburgh before being elected as the Member of Parliament forEdinburgh Central in 1974; he switched to theLivingston constituency in1983. InParliament, he was known for his debating ability and rapidly rose through the political ranks and ultimately into the Cabinet. As Foreign Secretary, he oversaw British interventions inKosovo andSierra Leone.
Cook resigned from his positions asLord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons on 17 March 2003 in protest against theinvasion of Iraq. At the time of his death, he was President of theForeign Policy Centre and a Vice-President of theAmerica All Party Parliamentary Group and the Global Security and Non-Proliferation All Party Parliamentary Group.
Robin Cook was born in theCounty Hospital, Bellshill, Scotland,[1] the only son of Peter and Christina Cook (née Lynch) (29 May 1912 – 20 March 2003). His father was a chemistry teacher who grew up inFraserburgh, and his grandfather was a miner before beingblacklisted for being involved in a strike.
Cook was educated atAberdeen Grammar School and, from 1960, theRoyal High School in Edinburgh.[1] At first, Cook intended to become aChurch of Scotland minister, but lost his faith as he discovered politics. He joined theLabour Party in 1965 and became anatheist. He remained so for the rest of his life.[citation needed]
He then studiedEnglish literature at theUniversity of Edinburgh, where he obtained a postgraduateMA withHonours inEnglish Literature. He began studying for a PhD onCharles Dickens and Victorian serial novels, supervised byJohn Sutherland, but gave it up in 1970.[citation needed]
In 1971, after a period working as a secondary school teacher, Cook became a tutor-organiser of the Workers' Educational Association forLothian,[citation needed] and a localcouncillor in Edinburgh.[citation needed] He gave up both posts when he was elected as aMember of Parliament (MP) on his twenty-eighth birthday, in February 1974.[citation needed]
Cook unsuccessfully contested theEdinburgh North constituency at the1970 general election, but was elected to theHouse of Commons at theFebruary 1974 general election as Member of Parliament forEdinburgh Central, defeatingGeorge Foulkes for nomination. In 1981, Cook was a member of the anti-nuclearLabour Party Defence Study Group.[2]
When the constituency boundaries were revised for the1983 general election, he transferred to the newLivingston constituency afterTony Benn declined to run for the seat. Cook represented Livingston until his death. In parliament, Cook joined the left-wingTribune Group of theParliamentary Labour Party and frequently opposed the policies of the Wilson and Callaghan governments. He was an early supporter of constitutional andelectoral reform (he opposeddevolution in the 1979 referendum but came out in favour on election night in 1983) and of efforts to increase the number of female MPs.[citation needed] In May 2005, one month before he died, Cook said: "My nightmare is that we will have been 12 years in office, with the ability to reform the electoral system, and will fail to do so until we are back in opposition, in perhaps a decade of Conservative government, regretting that we left in place the electoral system that allowed Conservative governments on a minority vote."[3]
Cook supported unilateralnuclear disarmament and the abandoning of the Labour Party'seuroscepticism of the 1970s and 1980s.[citation needed] During his early years in parliament, Cook championed several liberalising social measures, to mixed effect. He repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) introduced a private member's bill on divorce reform in Scotland, but succeeded in July 1980 – and after three years' trying – with an amendment to bring the Scottish law on homosexuality into line with that in England.[citation needed] After Labour were defeated at the general election in May 1979, Cook supportedMichael Foot's leadership bid and joined his campaign committee. When Tony Benn challengedDenis Healey for the party's deputy leadership in September 1981, Cook supported Healey.[4]
Cook became known as a brilliant parliamentary debater, and rose through the party ranks, becoming afrontbench spokesman in 1980, and reaching theShadow Cabinet in June 1983,[citation needed] as spokesperson on European affairs. He was campaign manager forNeil Kinnock's successful 1983 bid to become leader of the Labour Party.[citation needed] A year later he was made party campaign co-ordinator but in October 1986 Cook was surprisingly voted out of the shadow cabinet. He was re-elected in July 1987 and in October 1988 elected to Labour's National Executive Committee. He was one of the key figures in the modernisation of the Labour Party under Kinnock.[4] He wasShadow Health Secretary (1987–92) and Shadow Trade Secretary (1992–94), before taking on foreign affairs in 1994, the post he would become most identified with (Shadow Foreign Secretary 1994–97, Foreign Secretary 1997–2001).[citation needed]
In 1994, following the death ofJohn Smith, he ruled himself out of contention for the Labour leadership, apparently on the grounds that he was "insufficiently attractive" to be an election winner,[5] although two close family bereavements in the week in which the decision had to be made may have contributed.[citation needed]
On 26 February 1996, following the publication of theScott Report into the 'Arms-to-Iraq' affair, he made a speech in response to the thenPresident of the Board of TradeIan Lang in which he said: "this is not just a Government which does not know how to accept blame; it is a Government which knows no shame". His parliamentary performance on the occasion of the publication of the five-volume, 2,000-page Scott Report – which he claimed he was given just two hours to read before the relevant debate, thus giving him three seconds to read every page – was widely praised on both sides of the House as one of the best performances the Commons had seen in years and one of Cook's finest hours. The government won the vote by a majority of one.[6][7]
As Joint Chairman (alongsideLiberal Democrat MPRobert Maclennan) of the Labour-Liberal Democrat Joint Consultative Committee on Constitutional Reform, Cook brokered the 'Cook-Maclennan Agreement' that laid the basis for the fundamental reshaping of the British constitution outlined in Labour's 1997 general election manifesto. This led to legislation for major reforms including Scottish and Welshdevolution, theHuman Rights Act and removing the majority of hereditary peers from theHouse of Lords.
With the election of a Labour government led byTony Blair at the1997 general election, Cook became Foreign Secretary. He was believed to have coveted the job ofChancellor of the Exchequer, but that job was reportedly promised by Tony Blair toGordon Brown. He announced, to much scepticism, his intention to add "an ethical dimension" to foreign policy.[citation needed]
His term as Foreign Secretary was marked by British interventions inKosovo andSierra Leone. Both of these were controversial, the former because it was not sanctioned by theUN Security Council, and the latter because of allegations that the British companySandline International had supplied arms to supporters of the deposed president in contravention of a United Nations embargo.[8] Cook was also embarrassed when his apparent offer to mediate in the dispute between India and Pakistan overKashmir was rebuffed. The ethical dimension of his policies was subject to inevitable scrutiny, leading to criticism at times.
Cook was responsible for achieving the agreement between the UK andIran that ended the Iranian death threat against authorSalman Rushdie, allowing both nations to normalize diplomatic relations.[citation needed] He is also credited with having helped resolve the eight-yearimpasse over thePan Am Flight 103 bombing trial by gettingLibya to agree to hand over the two accused (Megrahi andFhimah) in 1999, for trial in the Netherlands according toScots law.[citation needed]
In March 1998, a diplomatic rift ensued with Israel when Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu cancelled a dinner with Cook, while Cook was visiting Israel and had demonstrated opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements.[9]
Although reported to have had republican sympathies,[10] he andQueen Elizabeth II were said to be on good terms due to their mutual interest in horses.[11]
Following the2001 general election he was moved, against his wishes, from the Foreign Office to beLeader of the House of Commons. This was widely seen as a demotion – although it is a Cabinet post, it is substantially less prestigious than the Foreign Office – and Cook nearly turned it down.[12] In the end he accepted, and looking on the bright side welcomed the chance to spend more time on his favourite stage. According toThe Observer, it was Blair's fears over political battles within the Cabinet over Europe, and especially theEuro, which saw him demote the pro-European Cook.[12][13]
As Leader of the House, he was responsible for reforming the hours and practices of the Commons and for leading the debate onreform of the House of Lords. He also spoke for the Government during the controversy surrounding the membership of Commons Select Committees which arose in 2001, where Government whips were accused of pushing aside the outspoken committee chairsGwyneth Dunwoody andDonald Anderson.[14] He was President of theParty of European Socialists from May 2001 to April 2004.
In early 2003, during a television appearance onBBC's debating seriesQuestion Time, he was inadvertently referred to as "Robin Cock" byDavid Dimbleby. Cook responded with good humour with "Yes, David Bumblebee", and Dimbleby apologised twice on air for his slip.[15] The episode also saw Cook in the uncomfortable position of defending the Government's stance over the impending invasion of Iraq, weeks before his resignation over the issue.
He documented his time asLeader of the House of Commons in a widely acclaimed memoirThe Point of Departure, which discussed in diary form his efforts to reform theHouse of Lords and to persuade his ministerial colleagues, includingTony Blair, to distance the Labour Government from the foreign policy of theBush administration. The former political editor ofChannel 4 News,Elinor Goodman called the book 'the best insight yet into the workings of the Blair cabinet', the former editor ofThe Observer,Will Hutton, called it "the political book of the year – a lucid and compelling insider's account of the two years that define the Blair Prime Ministership".
In early 2003, he was reported to be one of the cabinet's chief opponents of military action against Iraq, and on 17 March he resigned from the Cabinet. In a statement giving his reasons for resigning, he said, "I can't accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britain now to military action in Iraq without international agreement or domestic support." He also praised Blair's "heroic efforts" in pushing for the so-called second resolution regarding theIraq disarmament crisis, but lamented "The reality is that Britain is being asked to embark on a war without agreement in any of the international bodies of which we are a leading partner – not NATO, not the European Union and, now, not the Security Council". Cook's heartfelt resignation speech[16] in theHouse of Commons received an unprecedented standing ovation from some fellow MPs, and was described by theBBC'sAndrew Marr as "without doubt one of the most effective, brilliant resignation speeches in modern British politics."[17] Most unusually for the British parliament, Cook's speech was met with growing applause from all sides of the House and from the public gallery. According toThe Economist's obituary, that was the first speech ever to receive a standing ovation in the history of the House.[18]
Following his 2003 resignation from the Cabinet, Cook remained an activebackbench Member of Parliament until his death. After leaving the Government, Cook was a leading analyst of the decision to go to war inIraq, giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee which was later relevant during theHutton andButler inquiries. He was sceptical of the proposals contained in the Government'sHigher Education Bill, and abstained on itssecond reading.[19] He also took strong positions in favour of both the proposedEuropean Constitution,[20] and thereform of the House of Lords to create a majority-elected second chamber,[21][22] about which he said (while he was Leader of the Commons), "I do not see how [theHouse of Lords] can be a democratic second Chamber if it is also an election-free zone".
In October 2004, Cook hosted an episode of the long-runningBBC panel showHave I Got News for You.[23]
In the years after his exit from the Foreign Office, and particularly following his resignation from the Cabinet, Cook made up withGordon Brown after decades of personal animosity[24] — an unlikely reconciliation after a mediation attempt byFrank Dobson in the early 1990s had seen Dobson conclude (toJohn Smith) "You're right. They hate each other." Cook and Brown focused on their common political ground, discussing how to firmly entrench progressive politics after the exit ofTony Blair.[25]Chris Smith said in 2005 that in recent years Cook had been setting out a vision of "libertarian, democratic socialism that was beginning to break the sometimes sterile boundaries of 'old' and 'New' Labour labels".[26] With Blair's popularity waning, Cook campaigned vigorously in the run-up to the 2005 general election to persuade Labour doubters to remain with the party.
In a column for theGuardian four weeks before his death, Cook caused a stir when he describedAl-Qaeda as a product of a western intelligence:
Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by Western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by theCIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against theRussian occupation of Afghanistan.Al-Qaeda, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.[27]
Some commentators and senior politicians said that Cook seemed destined for a senior Cabinet post under a Brown premiership.[28]
In the2005 general election, his first election as a backbencher in over 20 years, he held his Livingston seat with an increased majority of 13,097, where he remained until his death 3 months later.
Cook's first wife was Margaret Katherine Whitmore, fromSomerset, whom he met at Edinburgh University. They married on 15 September 1969 at St Alban's Church,Westbury Park, Bristol[29] and had two sons.[30][31]
Shortly after he becameForeign Secretary, Cook ended his relationship with Margaret, revealing that he was having anextramarital affair with one of his staff, Gaynor Regan. He announced his intentions to leave his wife via a press statement made atHeathrow on 2 August 1997. Cook was forced into a decision over his private life following a telephone conversation withAlastair Campbell as he was about to go on holiday with his first wife. Campbell explained that the press was about to break the story of his affair with Regan. His estranged wife subsequently accused him of having had several extramarital affairs and alleged he had a habit of drinking heavily.[32][33]
Cook married Regan inTunbridge Wells, Kent,[34] on 9 April 1998, four weeks after his divorce was finalised.
Introduced tohorse racing by his first wife, Cook was aracing tipster in his spare time. Between 1991 and 1998 Cook wrote a weekly tipster's column for Glasgow'sHerald newspaper,[citation needed] a post in which he was succeeded byAlex Salmond.
At the start of August 2005, Cook and his wife, Gaynor, took a two-week holiday in theScottish Highlands. At around 2:20 pm on 6 August 2005, while he walked downBen Stack[35] inSutherland, Cook suddenly suffered a severe heart attack, collapsed, lost consciousness and fell about 8 feet (2.4 m) down a ridge. He was assisted after his fall by another hill-walker who refused all publicity and was granted anonymity. A helicopter containing paramedics arrived 30 minutes after a999 call was made. Cook then was flown toRaigmore Hospital,Inverness.[36]
Gaynor did not get in the helicopter and walked down the mountain. Despite efforts made by the medical team to revive Cook in the helicopter, he was already beyond recovery, and at 4:05 pm, minutes after arrival at the hospital, was pronounced dead. He was 59. Two days later, apost-mortem examination found that Cook had died ofhypertensive heart disease.
A funeral was held on 12 August 2005, atSt Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, even though Cook had been an atheist.[37]Gordon Brown gave the eulogy, and German foreign ministerJoschka Fischer was one of the mourners.Tony Blair, who was on holiday at the time, did not attend.[38]
A later memorial service atSt Margaret's, Westminster, on 5 December 2005, included a reading by Blair and tributes by Brown andMadeleine Albright. On 29 September 2005, Cook's friend and election agent since 1983,Jim Devine, won the resultingby-election with a reduced majority.[39]
In January 2007, a headstone was erected in theGrange Cemetery, Edinburgh where Cook is buried, bearing theepitaph: "I may not have succeeded in halting the war, but I did secure the right of parliament to decide on war." It is a reference to Cook's strong opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the words were reportedly chosen by his widow and two sons from his previous marriage.[40]
in April 2022,Police Scotland were asked by an individual whose name was redacted for seven pieces of unanswered information surrounding Cook's death.[41] The request was initially refused, but theScottish Information Commissioner ruled the police had breached theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 by doing so.[42] Since this development, controversy has re-emerged around the circumstances of Cook's death.[43]
Probably his greatest Commons triumph was in the 1996 debate on the Scott Report into arms for Iraq. Famously, Cook had only two hours access to the report before delivering the tour de force in which he described the Tory frontbench as "limpets".
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEdinburgh Central 1974–1983 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forLivingston 1983–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theFabian Society 1990–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Diane Jeuda | Chair of the Labour Party 1996–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theParty of European Socialists 2001–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services 1987–1989 | Succeeded by Himself as Shadow Secretary of State for Health |
| Succeeded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security | ||
| Preceded by Himself as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services | Shadow Secretary of State for Health 1989–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1992–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Foreign Secretary 1994–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Foreign Secretary 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Commons 2001–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Lord President of the Council 2001–2003 | ||
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