An MP in the UK has died due to a shooting attack on the streets of Birstall, West Yorkshire.
Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was shot three times (including once in the head) and repeatedly stabbed by a man, who was arrested soon after the assault. He also stabbed a 77-year-old man who tried to intervene on the attack.
The assailant, Tommy Mair, was a 52-year-old former psychiatric patient, and was shouting “Britain First!”, the slogan of groups who oppose Britain staying part of the European Union. Jo Cox was a public supporter of the ‘Remain’ campaign, which aimed to keep the UK as part of the European Union. She was on her way to hold her political surgery before the attack occurred.
Jo Cox’s husband, Brendan Cox, who she had two children with, has urged the public to unite against the ‘hate that killed her’, releasing this statement:
“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.”
He posted a photo of her by the Thames as a tribute to her memory on his Twitter account.
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, also released a statement after her death.
“In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died. But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.”
Jo Cox died doing her job, and fighting for what she believed in. Our thoughts are with her family at this terrible time.
