The Guardian, BBC and others are reporting that: “former Cabinet minister Robin Cook, 59, has died after collapsing while hill walking in north-west Scotland.” Apparently he was fell-walking with his wife Gaynor near the summit of Ben Stack, and he had a heart attack which led to a severe fall; it took some time for rescue services to reach him.
Robin Cook was the most senior politician in Britain or the US to take a principled stand against the invasion of Iraq. I blogged about his book, Point of Departure, last year. It’s still essential reading. What a great loss to British politics.
(I note that Jack Straw, John Prescott, Gordon Brown, David Blunkett and others have issued statements expressing sympathy and appreciation for Cook’s contributions. But there’s nothing from Tony Blair yet.)