Robin Cook has died tragically, at the age of 59, while hill-walking with his wife in Scotland - apparently of a heart-attack.I learned of Mr. Cook's death yesterday while in a hackney cab in London. The driver, who had just heard the awful news on the radio, turned to me and said: "he was the best of the lot".
The best of the lot. A tribute indeed. Throughout London yesterday and today, I have seen and heard the little, everyday average decent people of Britain murmuring their shock, and sadness, at the loss of the one decent man associated with Labour.
Robin Cook was a hero of mine, for his principled resignation on the eve of the illegal British war against the people of Iraq, in 2003. In some ways, he inspired my actions as part of the poets against the war movement. He was a catalyst for putting ethical considerations back at the heart of government and foreign policy, and he lost his job for it. But he was the hero of many. His death - at a time when he was widely expected to return to a top position when Brown replaces Blair - is a treble loss: for his family, his party, and the world. He departed parliament with the eloquent dignity of a great man, an historic figure; he departs the world, sadly, with far less grace, but no less drama. He leaves us with a memory of the best in each of us - a Socratic figure, a candidate for one of the great people of the age.
May there may be others like him in our future.
Comments
Let others replace him, if they can.