Jo Cox would be ‘gutted’ to see election used to spread division, says widower
The husband of murdered MP Jo Cox has said she would have been “gutted” to see the election used “to denigrate minorities and spread division”, ahead of the eighth anniversary of her death.
Brendan Cox said their children will mark the anniversary, and what would have been her coming 50th birthday, by putting on a concert of her favourite songs.
In a post on X, he said they will be “remembering all she meant to us and to so many others”.
“Jo would be gutted to be missing this election, and her chance to play a role in making our country better,” he said.
“She believed passionately in the potential of politics. She’d also be gutted to see some people willing to use it to denigrate minorities and spread division.”
Children
However, he said his late wife would be “most gutted” not to see what their children have become.
“Their love, kindness and spirit of adventure- all of which they have inherited from her,” he said.
“We miss her everyday but cherish what we had & what we built together. Her work and her love continues.”
The Batley and Spen Labour MP was stabbed and shot by a far-right extremist in Birstall, West Yorkshire, on June 16 2016.
The incident occurred just days before the Brexit referendum.
Her sister, Labour politician Kim Leadbeater, is now running to represent the constituency.
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The spread of hate and division in politics is an attempt to gain votes by stoking fear. It worked during the EU referendum and the recent EU elections but has seen less impact during this electoral campaign. Perhaps, people are more aware of the tactic now and are refusing to fall for the bigotry. However, there is still a long long way to go to completely eradicate it from politics, if that’s even possible.
Division and hate is ingrained and hardwired into politics in uk, in westminster, devolved administrations down to local councils thanks to it being adversarial. This is one of the many downsides of FPTP! Proportional representation would help to reduce division and hate through coalitions and parties working together.
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