Politics has lost a good and gifted man

Aug 7 2005 By The Sunday Sun

The world of politics was in shock last night after the sudden death of former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who collapsed while walking in the Scottish Highlands.

Rescuers battled to revive the 59-year-old MP after an apparent heart attack and fall, but he was pronounced dead minutes after being flown to hospital in Inverness.

Mr Cook, a father of two grown-up sons, was with his second wife Gaynor on Ben Stack in Sutherland when he took ill at 2.23pm.

The Livingston MP, who lived in Edinburgh, was near the summit of the 720m (2365ft) mountain.

He was airlifted by a Coastguard helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where he died.

Meanwhile, his friend, former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, remains seriously ill, hospital officials said last night.

A spokeswoman at King's College Hospital, London, where the 55- year-old former Redcar MP is being treated, said her condition remained the same and described her as "critical but stable".

She would not give details of Ms Mowlam's illness or say whether it was linked to her previous brain tumour.

Mr Cook had apparently collapsed with a suspected heart attack on the mountainside while out walking during his summer holidays. He was also reported to have seriously injured himself in a fall after his collapse.

Mr Cook was on the mountain for nearly half an hour before rescue services reached him.

Then, guided by medical experts via telephone, they battled to revive him, before he was airlifted by helicopter to hospital in Inverness.

Mr Cook arrived at hospital at 4pm, some 90 minutes after his collapse and was declared dead five minutes later, said an NHS spokesman.

A police spokesman said: "As is normal in such circumstances, a report will be prepared for the Procurator Fiscal."

Deputy prime minister John Prescott led tributes to the former Foreign Secretary.

He said: "This is truly sad and tragic news. Robin was the greatest parliamentarian of his generation.

"He also made an enormous contribution to British politics in opposition and in Government. He will be sorely missed."

Chancellor Gordon Brown said Mr Cook would be mourned in every continent around the world.

Mr Brown said: "I admired and valued Robin as a colleague and friend and as one of the greatest parliamentarians of our time."

Mr Cook was a keen hill-walker, and regularly spent his summer holidays with close family and friends enjoying the dramatic mountain scenery of Highland Scotland.

A leading figure in the Labour Party for decades, Mr Cook was put in the key job of Foreign Secretary when the party won power in 1997.

He was demoted to the post of Leader of the Commons following Labour's second election victory in 2001 and resigned from the Cabinet in protest at the Iraq War in 2003.

Mr Cook had been tipped for a possible return to ministerial office should Mr Brown become Prime Minister.

Sunday Sun: The Champion of the North

Page 2: Tributes to MP pour in from all parties