Summary

  • Tributes paid to Labour MP Jo Cox who has died after being shot and stabbed

  • The 41-year-old mother of two became MP for Batley and Spen in 2015

  • Police arrested a 52-year-old-man over the incident in Birstall on Thursday

  • EU referendum campaigning has been suspended

  1. Jo Cox 'one of the brightest and best' - MP Barry Sheermanpublished at 14:35 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    BBC News Channel

    Speaking to BBC News, Labour MP Barry Sheerman says Jo Cox was a "brilliant" MP, and says he'd regarded her "almost as a political daughter".

    Quote Message

    So many things that she'd started, and never going to be able to finish. It's tragic."

    She was "one of the brightest and best," he adds.

  2. Mary Creagh on Jo Coxpublished at 14:32 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The Daily Politics

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  3. Most politicians 'are in it for the right reasons', says Ed Milibandpublished at 14:24 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Ed MilibandImage source, Getty Images

    Ed Miliband also told the World at One that "the vast majority" of politicians "are in it for the right reasons".

    The former Labour leader said there was "a danger that it doesn't take long for the caravan to move on and for people to go back to their old ways" but that he hoped people reflected on the tone of politics.

    "It isn't about taking the passion out of politics" he insisted, adding: "Yesterday it was this moment where you thought gosh, a lot the way we conduct ourselves looks so small in comparison to this terrible event."

    He suggested that security around MPs and their staff should be looked at "but I want us to hold on to the accessibility of our democracy".

  4. Ed Miliband: We should reflect on the way we conduct our politicspublished at 14:17 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Speaking earlier to the World at One, former Labour leader Ed Miliband echoed the words of current leader Jeremy Corbyn and one of his predecessors, Neil Kinnock, when he said of Jo Cox's death: "We've lost a member of our family."

    Mr Miliband said Jo Cox had "this extraordinary combination of passion for the causes she believed in" and a willingness to campaign across party lines. She also had "gentleness and warmth", he adds.

    "We should reflect on Jo's life and what she taught us rather than the manner of her death," he tells the World at One. "And I think we should also reflect on the way we conduct our politics."

    Quote Message

    There's too much hatred and not enough respect, and that's true on all sides."

  5. Jo Cox's killing 'a despicable and appalling act' - Commons Speakerpublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    John Bercow

    "Everybody is united in grief, in horror and in an overpowering respect," says the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

    He describes the killing of Jo Cox as "a despicable and appalling act".

  6. Jeremy Corbyn: Jo Cox killing was 'an act of hatred'published at 14:08

    Jeremy Corbyn

    The killing of Jo Cox was "an act of hatred" in the town she loved and grew up in, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

    Paying tribute to his colleague, he said her killing was "an attack on democracy", which left behind her husband and two children "who will never see their mother again".

    MPs will get a chance to pay their own tributes on Monday after David Cameron agreed to the recall of Parliament, he said.

    Speaking in Birstall, Mr Corbyn hailed her work for anti-slavery campaigns, Oxfam, human rights and justice, and said:

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    She was taken from us in an act of hatred; in a vile act that has killed her. It's an attack on democracy what happened yesterday - it's the well of hatred that killed her."

    Mr Corbyn said Mrs Cox's husband, Brendan, "made a truly wonderful statement, that in her memory we'll try to conquer hatred with love and respect".

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    She leaves behind two young children who will never see their mother again - they will only be able to grow up knowing what she was, what she stood for and what she achieved."

  7. David Cameron: 'Nation is rightly shocked over Jo Cox's death'published at 14:05 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Hailing Jo Cox as one of Parliament's "most passionate and brilliant campaigners", David Cameron said the nation "is rightly shocked" at her death.

    The prime minister met Mrs Cox in Darfur in 2006 when she was working to save "the lives of vulnerable refugees".

    Quote Message

    The most profound thing that has happened is two children have lost their mother, a husband has lost a loving wife and Parliament has lost one of its most passionate and brilliant campaigners - someone who epitomised that politics is about serving others. Today our nation is rightly shocked."

  8. UKIP won't contest Batley and Spen by-electionpublished at 14:05 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

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  9. Picture: A moment of reflectionpublished at 13:59 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Politicians gather in Birstall

    Hilary Benn, Jeremy Corbyn, John Bercow, David Cameron
  10. David Cameron: Jo Cox 'died doing her job'published at 13:56 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    David Cameron

    Jo Cox died "doing her job" and her values of service, community and tolerance should be redoubled, David Cameron has said in her Batley and Spen constituency.

    The prime minister, paying tribute to the 41-year-old married mother of two, said politics is about public service and MPs wanted to do things for other people to make the world a better place.

    While politicians disagree, he said everyone "should value and see as precious the democracy we have on these islands".

  11. Parliament to be recalled on Mondaypublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 17 June 2016
    Breaking

    Jeremy Corbyn says the prime minister has accepted his request to recall Parliament on Monday.

  12. In pictures: Commons Speaker and shadow foreign secretary lay flowerspublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Commons Speaker John Bercow
    Image caption,

    Commons Speaker John Bercow

    Hilary Benn
    Image caption,

    Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn

  13. In pictures: PM and Corbyn pay their respects to Jo Coxpublished at 13:50 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    David Cameron
    Jeremy Corbyn
  14. Cameron and Corbyn lay flowers for killed MP Jo Coxpublished at 13:47 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Cameron, Corbyn, Benn, Bercow

    They were joined by shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and Commons Speaker John Bercow

  15. Merkel urges British political parties to moderate rhetoricpublished at 13:46 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Commenting on the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said British political parties needed to moderate their speech in their campaigns on the EU referendum:

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    The exaggerations and radicalisation of part of the language do not help to foster an atmosphere of respect."

  16. Neil Coyle: MPs warned of copy-cat attackspublished at 13:40 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    Labour MP Neil Coyle says parliamentarians have been warned of the risk of copy-cat attacks after the killing of Jo Cox.

    Mr Coyle, who was a friend of Mrs Cox, said MPs had received new security advice - and he feared some may choose to step down because of the abuse they face.

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    We've all been warned of copycat attacks. Police have been in touch with many MPs to offer additional security for those of us who are having surgeries today."

    But Mr Coyle said "There are instances where the police can do more". "There are MPs who have been asking for extra support from the police and who are not getting it," he said.

    Women MPs faced more abuse than men - and when he and Mrs Cox penned a joint newspaper article, people phoned her office to "attack her down the phone", but he did not receive the same treatment, he said. 

  17. Ed Miliband: Jo Cox's death 'unbearable'published at 13:31 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has remembered the "incredible gentleness and warmth" of Jo Cox, the MP killed in a violent attack outside her constituency surgery on Thursday.

    He told the BBC's World at One she had an "extraordinary combination of passion for the causes she believed in and a willingness to fight for those across party lines .. as an aid worker at Oxfam".

    He said it was time to look at "the way we conduct our politics", saying: "There's too much hate and not enough respect - that's true of all sides." 

    But he said his thoughts were with Mrs Cox's husband and two young children: "That's what makes this so unbearable."

  18. 'Generous move' by Tories not to fight by-electionpublished at 13:30 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

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  19. Glenys Kinnock: Politicians like Jo Cox 'deserve to be cherished'published at 13:19 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The World at One
    BBC Radio 4

    Politicians like Jo Cox deserved "to be cherished", Baroness Kinnock has said, adding: "I loved her".

    Mrs Cox worked for Glenys Kinnock when she was an MEP and shared her interest in international development. Her former boss said she was "highly intelligent, jolly, brave and worked hard."

    Speaking more generally about politicians, Baroness Kinnock told BBC's World At One programme:

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    "There are many, many parliamentarians who work very hard to protect and support their constituencies. It really is awful, the bad name politicians have - as if all they are doing is feathering their own nests or putting their own interests before the interests of others. That has never been my experience. If anything comes of this awful, awful tragedy it's that I hope people realise someone like Jo deserves to be cherished."

  20. Conservatives: We won't contest Jo Cox's seat as mark of respectpublished at 13:18 British Summer Time 17 June 2016

    The Conservatives have been explaining their decision not to put up a challenger for Jo Cox's seat. 

    A spokesman said: "Following the tragic killing of Labour MP Jo Cox, the Conservative Party has decided not to contest the forthcoming by-election as a mark of respect to a much-loved and respected politician.”