Much has already been written about Robin Cook, the former British Foreign Secretary who died over the weekend.

The tributes have followed much the same line; he was a man of principle and a brilliant debater among whose best speeches was the one he made when he resigned from the Cabinet over his profound disagreement with Britain?s entry into the Iraq war.

That he was not chastised for his decision was a symbol of the respect in which he was held, both by his former Cabinet colleagues and those who generally opposed his policies. Even The Daily Telegraph, which disagreed with him on almost everything, praised him yesterday as one of the great figures of modern British politics.

There are lessons here for all leaders, not least those in Bermuda. Too often, they come across as grubby, poll-led, unprincipled and more interested in the perks of office than the good that can be done for others through the power of the same office. Robin Cook was not cut from that cloth, and it may be because his style is so rare that he is now receiving so much praise.

Absent from the obituaries is the decision he took that most directly affected Bermuda and the other Overseas Territories. That?s not surprising. Britain?s OTs are among the least of a modern Foreign Secretary?s problems, and unless a crisis erupts ? as literally happened in Montserrat ? their problems are are usually handled by underlings. Mr. Cook did not hold that view. Early in his tenure, he convened a meeting of UK overseas territories and then set forward the ?Partnership for Progress? between Britain and the OTs.

This was very much in line with Mr. Cook?s efforts to establish an ethical dimension to British foreign policy. Although it is unlikely that a man of Mr. Cook?s Scottish left-wing background would have had much sympathy with empire and imperialism, he also recognised that if the UK was going to continue to have ?dependent territories?, then it needed to treat them fairly.

Some of these changes were a matter of nomenclature. Instead of a Dependent Territory, Bermuda became an Overseas Territory, a term which better described some of the UK?s colonies, including this one. It also established a better footing for a ?partnership? as opposed to a dependent relationship.

The most significant change came with the granting of UK passports to Overseas Territories citizens after that right was callously revoked decades earlier by the Conservative Party, mainly to prevent hordes of Hong Kong Chinese from fleeing to Britain after the Chinese takeover. This was done because it was fair. Although it was easier to do after the Hong Kong handover, there was still no political capital to be gained and some could be lost ? what would happen if all the OT citizens got on the next plane to Britain?

Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the 1997 conference, there were a few carefully leaked stories in the UK press from the Home Office, then led by Jack Straw, trying to sabotage the move. In Bermuda, what opposition there was to the idea came from the nationalist left, who could see how much damage the passports would do to arguments for Independence. That Mr. Cook, a lifetime socialist, should end up preserving the remnants of the British Empire is one of the ironies of politics, but that was not his fault when he was simply righting a longstanding wrong.

Even though it was Mr. Straw (as Mr. Cook?s successor in the Foreign Office) who implemented the policy, it was Mr. Cook who set up the framework for Bermuda?s new relationship with Britain, and while this may not merit more than a footnote in Mr. Cook?s biography, it marked a new chapter for this Island and its people and for that, if nothing else, he should be remembered.