Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and killed in a mindless attack in West Yorkshire yesterday.
Jo Cox, a 41-year-old mother of two, was shot three times and stabbed just before 1pm in Birstall in her Batley & Spen constituency. West Yorkshire Police have arrested a 52-year-old man, named locally as Thomas Mair.
Jo was pronounced dead around an hour later, leaving her husband Brendan and two young children, aged 3 and 5.
Mrs Cox’s husband, Brendan, made these comments after the death was announced: “Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo’s friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.
“Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now – one, that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.
“Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full.”
Jo continually campaigned to highlight the plight of refugees across the Middle East and Europe. She was also an avid Remain campaigner.
Both Remain and Leave campaigners suspended campaigning yesterday our of respect for Mrs Cox’s death.
MP Jo Cox’s maiden speech can be seen below, where she speaks of how her constituency being ‘deeply enhanced by immigration’ and how ‘we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’.