Hundreds of mourners attend Robin Cook’s funeral

Over 700 mourners, including politicians, celebrities and members of the public have attended the funeral of former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook in Edinburgh on Friday.

The funeral of the Livingston MP, who died last Saturday aged 59, was held at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Chancellor Gordon Brown read the eulogy at the funeral, describing him as the “greatest parliamentarian of his generation”. He told the mourners that Robin’s passing “leaves a gap that can never properly be filled”.

The funeral was attended by most of the Cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Defence Secretary John Reid, Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett, Transport and Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling and Mr Cook’s successor as Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. Former Labour leaders Michael Foot and Lord Kinnock were also in attendance. Mr Blair, however, was absent as he is on holiday.

A number of politicians from opposition parties attended the funeral, including Conservative former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkin, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and Deputy leader, Sir Menzies Campbell and the leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond.

There were also a number of celebrities present at the funeral, including impressionist Rory Bremner, former footballer Ally McCoist and racing pundit, John McCririck.

The mourners were led by Mr Cook’s wife Gaynor and his two sons, Peter and Christopher. His first wife, Margaret was also in attendance.

Mr Cook’s sons provided readings during the service, as did Mohammed Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Govan. John McCririck, a close friend of Mr Cook’s, used his reading to attack Prime Minister Tony Blair, who decided not to cut short his holiday to come to the funeral, for failing to attend. Mr McCririck said the Prime Minister’s decision showed a “petty vindictiveness”.

Mr Cook had resigned from his post as Leader of the Commons in 2003 in protest over the Iraq war. He subsequently become one of the fiercest critics over the government’s policy on Iraq.

Mr Blair is expected to attend a memorial organised by the Labour party for Mr Cook to be held later in the year.

Mr Cook collapsed while walking in the Scottish Highlands with his wife Gaynor, last Saturday. He was pronounced dead after being airlifted to hospital. A post-mortem earlier this week confirmed that he died of hypertensive heart disease.

(KMcA/SP)