By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
In the aftermath of the brutal killing of Jo Cox some serious questions need to be asked about the reason why this heinous crime occurred.
Now the Home affairs select committee will look into the political far right and to what level this contributed to the MPs death. The committee will additionally investigate the longer-term threat or dangers far right extremism could cause in the future.
The chair, Keith Vaz, declared that the rise of rightwing “extremism needs to be studied and acted on.”
The issue will be discussed next week and Vaz has indicated he was already aware there was a demand from outside and within the committee for an inquiry.
Vaz said: “The rise of far-right extremism needs to be studied and acted on with much greater determination and members of the committee have asked that we do so urgently.” He added: “There are strong arguments as to why we should look at this issue.”
The murder of Jo Cox has shocked the nation and the raw emotion showed on the faces of MPs during a Commons debate on her death, was deeply saddening. Her husband and children where in the public gallery and a spontaneous round of applause broke out at the end as MPs walked out and looked up to the family, sitting above them.
A police spokesperson said: “The National Counter Terrorism Policing Operations Centre (NCTPOC) monitors information and intelligence and assists police forces to mitigate against threats to communities.”
The spokesperson added: “The monitoring of all forms of violent extremism forms part of this work, as one strand of the day-to-day business of the operations centre. This includes a detailed review if a relevant incident occurs – for example, one which might inspire or provoke.”
