from London Spy

When he resigned from the Cabinet last month, Robin Cook was showered with praise for sacrificing his £125,000 ministerial income on the altar of principle. Closer examination displays the former foreign secretary in a less altruistic light.

For Spy learns that, just days after he quit, Cook signed up with the literary agent Maggie Pearlstein. A bidding war for his memoirs will soon be under way. "At a conservative estimate, Robin will make £500,000 for this," says one publishing source. "Then there's newspaper serialisation rights, which could run into hundreds of thousands."

No doubt Cook's high profile of last greatly enhanced his value to the publishers. The fact that he has appointed himself anti-war cumudgeon in chief will assure that his name generates lots of column inches, making PR for his book a doddle. It is rather depressing for we writers, that the only way to get a large book deal is to do something noxious in public. Oh well, such is life.

My wife, who is keeping the blog going while I write for Command Post, has posted a heart-felt piece about 9/11 and the war. It's a touching piece about what she and her city (NYC) lost on that fateful day.

Wonder what terrorist and despotic appeasers. like Cook and Galloway, would say in response to her post. Considering how cowardly they both are, I bet they would not have the gumption to respond. Iraq has links to Al Queda and anyone who denies this is either is lying or self-delusioned out of their hatred for President Bush.