 | '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. It probably still has biological toxins and battlefield chemical munitions, but it has had them since the 1980s when US companies sold Saddam anthrax agents and the then British Government approved chemical and munitions factories.' Rt Hon Robin Cook, 17 th March 2003. |  |
JIM Devine, the leading trade unionist, former election agent and close friend of Robin Cook, is believed to have received the personal endorsement of the chancellor to succeed the late MP for Livingston.
While Gordon Brown will have no say in choosing a Labour candidate for the constituency beyond his membership of the party's national executive committee which has a role in by-election selections, his endorsement is a powerful aid to advancement, particularly in Scotland.
A close aide to the chancellor told The Herald: "Jim Devine is a highly respected figure in the party, both in Scotland and nationally, and obviously he would make an excellent candidate to succeed Robin Cook."
Since Mr Cook's funeral on Friday, the talk has been of two things at Westminster. One is speculation that the rapprochement between the chancellor and the former foreign secretary and leader of the Commons was such that Mr Brown planned to appoint Mr Cook his deputy in the event of him becoming party leader.
The other was the continued fall out from the intemperate attack on Tony Blair at the funeral by John McCririck, the horse racing commentator, who declared the prime minister's absence from the service to be a "moral failure".
Mr Brown's eulogy in praise of Mr Cook as "the greatest parliamentarian of our time" appeared to confirm that he would have been brought back into a future Labour government under him, although in what capacity may never be known.
Mr Devine, longstanding election agent for Mr Cook and best man at his second wedding, insisted yesterday that the turbulent events since the shock of Mr Cook collapsing and dying while hillwalking with his wife, Gaynor, 10 days ago meant he had not had the chance to draw breath and consider his own position.
He was at the side of Gaynor and Mr Cook's two sons throughout last week and it fell to him at the request of Mrs Cook to deliver the rebuke to Mr McCririck for going against a specific family request not to air his thoughts about Mr Blair's absence at the funeral itself.
Mr McCririck said over the weekend that one member of the Cook family had thanked him for saying something "that needed to be said".
Yesterday Mr Devine said that was simply untrue, adding that the saddest thing about the controversy over the remarks was that they had overshadowed the tremendous show of support at all levels of Scottish society over recent days.
"We have seen Scotland at it its best in the last week . . . It was extraordinary," he said.
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