A tragic death of a campaigner for refugees, peace, a social EU and a better world. CHARTIST salutes Jo Cox – Labour MP for Batley and Spen – today the 22nd of June. The day that would have marked Jo’s 42nd birthday. Jo was a fighter for refugee rights, a women’s champion, advocate for local democracy and an articulate voice for the people of the Yorkshire constituency she had represented in parliament for just one year. Her colleague and newly elected MP, Cat Smith, joins the tributes
“My only regret is that I didn’t know Jo better. As we entered Parliament together just over a year ago I knew instantly she was a bundle of energy, passion and Yorkshire grit all packed into one – petite at five foot – woman. In the early days we joked about clothes, getting lost around the maze of corridors and adjusting to life as a new MP but soon I came to realise she was smart, compassionate and incredibly knowledgeable. It’s been a pleasure I will forever treasure to sit in the chamber and listen to Jo speak on Gaza and human rights.
I can’t begin to understand how we can ever get over the shock and the grief of losing Jo so violently and so suddenly. It’s apparent she was surrounded by love – her husband Brendan’s plea for love to defeat the hate just hours after losing his wife is testament to Jo – she picked a good one in Brendan! I hope that her children will always know that their mum was a beautiful person inside and out, that she wouldn’t have wanted the hate that killed her to win, and for that to happen we must show though love that a new kinder politics is possible – and quite frankly necessary.
Cat Smith MP, Lancaster and Fleetwood. Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Brendan Cox set up a fund on Jo’s behalf. Within days it had raised over £1 million. Hope not Hate, at the forefront of anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigning, is one of three charities supported