Editing Robin Cook (section)

==Outside the government==

Following his 2003 resignation from the Cabinet, Cook remained an active [[backbench]] Member of Parliament until his death. After leaving the Government, Cook was a leading analyst of the decision to go to war in [[Iraq]], giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee which was later relevant during the [[Hutton Inquiry|Hutton]] and [[Butler Review|Butler]] inquiries. He was sceptical of the proposals contained in the Government's [[Higher Education Bill]], and abstained on its [[second reading]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040127/debtext/40127-37.htm#40127-37_div38|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 January 2004 (pt 37)|access-date=24 June 2009|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom|date=27 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126075548/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040127/debtext/40127-37.htm#40127-37_div38|archive-date=26 November 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> He also took strong positions in favour of both the proposed [[European Constitution]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 9 February 2005 (pt 17)|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom|date=9 February 2005|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/cm050209/debtext/50209-17.htm#50209-17_spnew4|access-date=24 June 2009|archive-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126075338/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/cm050209/debtext/50209-17.htm#50209-17_spnew4|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[reform of the House of Lords]] to create a majority-elected second chamber,<ref>{{cite web|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 February 2003 (pt 8)|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom|date=4 February 2003|access-date=24 June 2009|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030204/debtext/30204-08.htm#30204-08_spmin0|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster|archive-date=26 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126075402/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030204/debtext/30204-08.htm#30204-08_spmin0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster|publisher=Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk|date=23 February 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 February 2005 (pt 1)|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo050223/halltext/50223h01.htm|archive-date=3 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703114612/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo050223/halltext/50223h01.htm}}</ref> about which he said (while he was Leader of the Commons), "I do not see how [the [[House of Lords]]] can be a democratic second Chamber if it is also an election-free zone".

In October 2004, Cook hosted an episode of the long-running [[BBC]] panel show ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''.<ref>[[List of Have I Got News for You episodes#Series 30 (2005)]]</ref>

In the years after his exit from the Foreign Office, and particularly following his resignation from the Cabinet, Cook made up with [[Gordon Brown]] after decades of personal animosity<ref>{{cite news|date=8 August 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/08/labour.iraq|title=John Kampfner on Robin Cook|work=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=14 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514055519/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/aug/08/labour.iraq|url-status=live}}</ref> — an unlikely reconciliation after a mediation attempt by [[Frank Dobson]] in the early 1990s had seen Dobson conclude (to [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]]) "You're right. They hate each other." Cook and Brown focused on their common political ground, discussing how to firmly entrench progressive politics after the exit of [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{cite news|date=8 August 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|author=Steve Richards|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-progressive-causes-everywhere-will-feel-the-loss-of-an-indispensable-politician-304440.html|title=Steve Richards: Progressive causes everywhere will feel the loss of an indispensable politician|archive-date=29 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629055814/http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/steve_richards/article304440.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury|Chris Smith]] said in 2005 that in recent years Cook had been setting out a vision of "libertarian, democratic socialism that was beginning to break the sometimes sterile boundaries of 'old' and 'New' Labour labels".<ref>{{cite news|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/chris-smith-the-house-of-commons-was-robin-cooks-true-home-8060462.html|title=Chris Smith: The House of Commons was Robin Cook's true home|newspaper=The Independent|date=8 August 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009162523/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/chris-smith-the-house-of-commons-was-robin-cooks-true-home-8060462.html|archive-date=9 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> With Blair's popularity waning, Cook campaigned vigorously in the run-up to the 2005 general election to persuade Labour doubters to remain with the party.

{{Anchor|Al-Quaida}}In a column for the ''Guardian'' four weeks before his death, Cook caused a stir when he described [[Al-Qaeda#Alleged CIA involvement|Al-Qaeda as a product of a western intelligence]]:

{{blockquote|Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by Western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the [[CIA]] and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the [[Russian occupation of Afghanistan]]. [[Al-Qaeda]], literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.<ref name='Guardian'>{{cite news|first=Robin|last=Cook|title=The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means|date=8 July 2005|access-date=25 July 2007|url=https://www.theguardian.com/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523838,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=11 November 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111225041/http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523838,00.html}}</ref>}}

Some commentators and senior politicians said that Cook seemed destined for a senior Cabinet post under a Brown premiership.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=24 June 2009|location=London|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article304437.ece|title=Return to Cabinet role for Cook was on the cards|date=8 August 2005|first=Colin|last=Brown|archive-date=2 October 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002205928/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article304437.ece}}</ref>

In the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]], his first election as a backbencher in over 20 years, he held his Livingston seat with an increased majority of 13,097, where he remained until his death 3 months later.