John McCririck is furious
that Tony Blair won't be
attending Robin Cook's
funeral.
Posted on 08/10/2005 11:42:42 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Key points • Criticism of Blair comes from old friend of Robin cook • John McCririck, the racing pundit, slams PM's decision • Robin Cook to have funeral service in St. Giles
Key quote "Margaret Thatcher can bring herself to attend Ted Heath's service, then surely Mr Blair ought, at least publicly, to show respect and gratitude to Robin." - John McCririck
Story in full TONY Blair came under increasing pressure last night to reverse his decision to remain on holiday rather than return home for Robin Cook's funeral, with one close friend of the former foreign secretary describing the Prime Minister's attitude as "contemptible".
John McCririck, the racing pundit and long-term friend of Mr Cook, said: "The Prime Minister cannot be bothered to sacrifice just 24 hours from his holiday to pay his, and the nation's, tribute to Robin. It is a deliberate, selfish snub to the family, millions of New Labour supporters, and the memory of a man who did so much to bring about his premiership."
Mr McCririck, who will speak at the funeral, added: "Robin's criticism of government policy was dignified, and never became personal or vindictive. If Margaret Thatcher can bring herself to attend Ted Heath's service, then surely Mr Blair ought, at least publicly, to show respect and gratitude to Robin."
Mr Cook will be buried on Friday following a high-profile service in the High Kirk of St Giles. It will be broadcast live on television and many of the most important political figures in Britain and from overseas will attend to pay their respects.
It is likely to be the biggest gathering in Scotland of Labour figures, past and present, since Donald Dewar's funeral five years ago. But Mr Blair has decided not to break off from his holiday in the Caribbean to come to the funeral.
But Downing Street yesterday insisted that Mr Blair did not believe he was snubbing the memory of the former foreign secretary, and a spokesman stressed that the Prime Minister would attend a memorial service at a later date.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "There will be people representing the government and someone will be standing in for the Prime Minister so this is not a snub." The spokesman stressed that John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, would attend in Mr Blair's place.
None of Mr Cook's political allies were willing to go public with criticisms, believing it would be wrong to get involved in a political fight over Mr Cook's funeral. But it is understood that several are angry with the Prime Minister's decision to stay on holiday, particularly given the service Mr Cook gave to the government as both foreign secretary and leader of the House of Commons.
Lord (Martin) O'Neill of Clackmannan, whose friendship with Mr Cook dates back to his student days, went further in public than any of his colleagues when he said it would be "unfortunate" if Mr Blair failed to break his holiday for the funeral.
Mr Cook's funeral will not be open to the public, despite the hopes of some of those most closely involved. The level of interest among politicians, Labour Party figures and international diplomats has been such that organisers will issue tickets for the service. The service will take place in St Giles' Cathedral, which can hold up to 1,000 people, but space will be restricted to fewer than 700 because of renovation work. However, the service will be broadcast live from 11am by both Sky TV and the BBC.
Paul Gudgin, director of the Edinburgh Fringe, said festivities in the High Street would be halted for the Mr Cook's funeral: "The Fringe will be suspending our usual activities on the High Street due to the funeral of Robin Cook. We are doing this out of respect for Mr Cook, his family and those attending the funeral. We are happy to collaborate with local agencies in any way we can to enable this important event to run as smoothly as possible.
Festival stewards will delay positioning three stages in the High Street used for performers until after the funeral and will encourage people to keep the area clear.
Mr Cook's funeral will be a "celebration" of the life of the former foreign secretary, his family said yesterday. Jim Devine, a close friend of Mr Cook and spokesman for the family, said the service would be followed by a private burial. The family has asked for no flowers, but for individual donations to go to the mental welfare charity MIND.
The service will be conducted by Richard Holloway, the former Bishop of Edinburgh for the Scottish Episcopal Church. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, will deliver a eulogy, and Mr Cook's two sons will also contribute to the service.
Heart disease given as cause of death
ROBIN Cook, the former foreign secretary, died of hypertensive heart disease, the Crown Office said yesterday.
The announcement followed the completion of a two-day post-mortem examination at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Mr Cook, 59, collapsed while walking in the Highlands on Saturday and was pronounced dead after being airlifted to hospital.
A Crown Office statement said: "The procurator fiscal for Tain and Dornoch can confirm that a post-mortem examination following the death of Robin Cook MP has established the cause of death as hypertensive heart disease.
"Next of kin has been informed of the cause of death, and a death certificate has now been issued."
Mr Cook suffered heart failure before falling about 8ft down a ledge on Ben Stack, where he and his wife Gaynor were walking.
Mrs Cook told rescuers that her husband had not breathed for 40 minutes as she and a passing walker struggled to revive him.
While they waited for help, Gaynor and the unknown walker struggled desperately to revive Mr Cook, with guidance from medical experts by mobile phone.
After her husband had been airlifted to Raigmore, where he was declared dead at 4:05pm, Mrs Cook was left to make her way down the mountain by foot.
Hypertensive heart disease is a late complication of high blood pressure.
The increased blood pressure in turn increases the workload of the heart, and over time this can cause thickening of the heart muscle.
As the heart continues to pump against the raised blood pressure, the left ventricle becomes enlarged, and the amount of blood pumped by the heart goes down.
According to the Medline Plus website, based in the United States, hypertensive heart disease is the leading cause of illness and death from high blood pressure.
In Britain, medical experts say hypertensive heart disease is the most common cause of heart failure after coronary heart disease due to smoking, alcohol and obesity.
HAMISH MACDONELL
COOK UNLUCKY SAYS DOCTOR
MR COOK'S untimely death was unlucky.
Like many people of his age he had high blood pressure - what doctors refer to as hypertension. Around a third of men and women in Scotland have high blood pressure. The condition can be made worse by obesity, smoking and stress, but for most people there is no obvious underlying cause.
If someone has hypertension then the heart muscle thickens because it is having to work harder to keep the blood pressure high. When this happens, it can have consequences for the heart and body such as coronary heart disease, stroke and heart attacks. However, many people with high blood pressure will not suffer serious problems.
The description of Mr Cook's cause of death as hypertensive heart disease suggests what we would call a sudden cardiac death - one of the more rare complications. Here, the heart rhythm becomes completely chaotic and the heart does not pump any blood because it cannot beat properly. If that happens in hospital, we can give an electric shock to bring the person back but this is not possible if you are on top of a mountain. Unfortunately, if you do not receive treatment immediately you die from it.
The vast majority of people with high blood pressure will not have this uncommon and unfortunate complication. The take home message is: he was unfortunate.
• David Newby is consultant cardiologist at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and St John's Livingston in the late Robin Cook's West Lothian constituency
Indeed. If Thatcher can bring herself to attend Heath's, then the least Blair could do is to attend the funeral of somebody who, whatever your views on his politics, was the formost parliamentarian of his generation and a major figure within the Labour Party.
Blair sent a representative. Current heads of state should not be expected to attend most funerals.
Especially ones with major domestic terrorism crises stemming from a 5th column, and an ongoing state of war. In the USA it's the job of the vice president, whose motto is "you die, we fly".
Why would anyone try to compare the Lady with Blair? She has always shown poise, bearing, style and manners. Enough said.....
But he has time to take a long holiday in Tuscany.
Indeed- it's shockingly bad form IMO. Besides, you'd have thought Blair would jump at the chance to get into a pulpit...
What about Chirac snubbing the USA, when he was HERE and did not attend President Reagan's funeral?
This is nothing to sqawk about....sheesh
We certainly do not set high standards when we use Chirac as comparison, do we?
:-)
I was no fan of Robin Cook. He always struck me as smarmy and a trifle obnoxious. But I'll give him this: if you are a Scot,the best way to go out is sudden death while hiking in the beautiful Highlands. As a departure, it beats most of the alternatives. So RIP and best of luck in the matter of Pascal's Wager. As for Blair's attendance at the funeral, I suspect that Cook doesn't care so why should I.
I can agree with you about that.
His heart's in the highlands
His heart's not here.
His heart's in the highlands,
chasing the deer.
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