British MP Robin Cook dies

Former Cabinet minister Robin Cook, 59, has died after collapsing while hill walking in north-west Scotland.
It is believed he was taken ill while walking with his wife Gaynor on Ben Stack
Mr Cook was flown by helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, with attempts made to resucitate him.

After Labour's landslide win, he entered the Cabinet as foreign secretary.

A Cabinet reshuffle after the 2001 Labour victory saw him replaced at the Foreign Office by Jack Straw, with Mr Cook instead given the job of Leader of the Commons.
He resigned that position in the lead-up to the conflict in Iraq in protest over Tony Blair's decision to go to war.

Out of respect to Robin I leave you with a few quotes from his historic resignation speech at the House of Commons on the 17th of March 2003

'Only a year ago, we and the United States were part of a coalition against terrorism that was wider and more diverse than I would ever have imagined possible.
History will be astonished at the diplomatic miscalculations that led so quickly to the disintegration of that powerful coalition.'

'None of us can predict the death toll of civilians from the forthcoming bombardment of Iraq, but the US warning of a bombing campaign that will "shock and awe" makes it likely that casualties will be numbered at least in the thousands.'

'Iraq probably has no weapons of mass destruction in the commonly understood sense of the term - namely a credible device capable of being delivered against a strategic city target'

'Why is it now so urgent that we should take military action to disarm a military capacity that has been there for 20 years, and which we helped to create?
Why is it necessary to resort to war this week, while Saddam's ambition to complete his weapons programme is blocked by the presence of UN inspectors?'

'Nothing could better demonstrate that they are wrong than for this House to stop the commitment of troops in a war that has neither international agreement nor domestic support.
I intend to join those tomorrow night who will vote against military action now. It is for that reason, and for that reason alone, and with a heavy heart, that I resign from the government. '

A rare phenomenon a politician that told us the truth and resigned with integrity

Rest in peace Robin