"One thing that has been remarked on that no one should doubt was his political courage. In February 2003, when Robin first told me that he might have to quit the government over Iraq, I urged caution. We both agreed that the threat from Iraq had been grossly inflated and that Saddam was being effectively contained. But I said that the invading troops would probably unearth some rusting stockpiles of chemical weapons left over from the first Gulf war and that Blair would be able to claim vindication. His allies were already briefing that those who opposed the war would put themselves "on the wrong side of history".

Robin agreed with my assessment, but dismissed it as a consideration: "This war is wrong and I will oppose it in any case." Those who knew him well will agree that by putting his intellectual reputation on the line he risked losing something far dearer to him than his ministerial limousine. That was the true measure of his courage."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/aug/09/labour.uk1

In an attack on Hazel Blears, George Monbiot says:

"You are temporarily protected by the fact that the United Kingdom, unlike other states, has not yet incorporated the Nuremberg Principles into national law. If a future government does so, you and all those who remained in the cabinet on March 20th 2003 will be at risk of prosecution for what the Nuremberg Tribunal called "the supreme international crime"(9). This is defined as the "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression"(10). Robin Cook - a man of genuine political courage - put his conscience ahead of his career and resigned. What did you do?"

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/02/10/you-stand-for-nothing-but-election/


Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.