Far-right group Britain First denies having connection with man accused of killing Labour MP Jo Cox
Initial reports suggested the killer yelled 'Britain first' as he shot and knifed her after her weekly surgery
FAR-RIGHT movement Britain First has denied having any connection to the suspect who shot and repeatedly stabbed Labour MP Jo Cox.
The mother-of-two was brutally attacked in the street by a gunman after holding a surgery in her constituency this afternoon.
Witnesses claim the man shouted ‘Britain first’ as he launched the attack, which happened in Birstall, West Yorkshire, at about 1pm.
Mrs Cox died at the scene, leaving behind a husband and two young children.
But Britain First – which campaigns against immigration, multiculturalism and Islam - has distanced itself from the killing.
One of the witnesses who initially claim they heard the remark has since denied it.
The group's leader, former British National Party councillor Paul Golding, says the attacker could have shouted 'It's time to put Britain first', and dismissed eyewitness accounts as 'hearsay'.
Mr Golding said: “She has been out campaigning to keep Britain in the EU and there are people in the area that are against it.
“I don't think it was one of our supporters.
“We stand in elections and organise protests - we don't encourage this kind of nonsense.
“She has a young family - an attack on a mum like that is disgraceful.
“Whether you agree with Labour, to have had that happen to her on the streets is shocking and an indictment of the state of this country.”
In a video message released following the announcement that Mrs Cox had died from her injuries, he added: “This is a terrible day for our democracy, for our parliamentary system.
“Our MPs are the representatives of the people and they have been for over 400 years now.
“So this is a very dark day for our country and for our democracy.
“We do not know what was said. At the moment, it is pure hearsay.
“It's an attack on a mother, it's an attack on our parliamentary system. It's just a downright act of criminality on the streets of Yorkshire.
“That's what we believe, that's what we think.
“I hope the person who carried out this heinous crime gets what he deserves.”
Britain First is against immigration – an issue which Mrs Cox has spoken positively about.
Mrs Cox worked as an aid worker before becoming an MP and then in her maiden speech she spoke about the positive impact immigration has had on her constituency, of Batley and Spen.
During the speech she said: “Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally from Kashmir.”