Defiant MPs go ahead with constituency surgeries today despite security fears after horrific murder of their colleague Jo Cox

DEFIANT MPs are going ahead with their constituency surgeries despite security fears in the wake of the brutal murder of Jo Cox.

This morning No10 said all members of parliament had been sent a reminder to review their security arrangements after the mother-of-two was gunned down in the street in West Yorkshire.

But politicians of all stripes have said they will not be cowed into not making themselves available to their constituents.

Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central, said: “I know MPs are scared.

“We’ll be reviewing our security, but I’ll walk through Barnsley today like every Friday.”

And his colleague, Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said: “I plan to keep to all my engagements today, including my surgery. I will ensure there is security present however.”

SNP MP Joanna Cherry said she would be holding a two-hour constituency surgery.

Holly Lynch, Labour MP for Halifax, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I will never be able to forget what has happened to Jo and, as we’ve all said, it’s incredibly, incredibly sad.

“I think you do have to bear in mind the safety of your staff at all times as well, who are quite often with you when you’re meeting members of the public, and so you cannot avoid taking these risks and concerns very, very seriously but to not let it stop you from being the effective MP that your constituents deserve.”

And Labour former minister Yvette Cooper told the programme: “All of us will tell you it’s so important for MPs to be embedded in the community that we represent.

“If you go down to Asda and someone stops you to tell you about a problem with their neighbour or the fact their mum’s back garden is flooded, you write the details down on the back of a till receipt or something like that.

“That kind of daily discussion you have in the constituency is so incredibly important and no-one would ever want to put that at risk.”

Stephen Timms, the Labour MP who was stabbed in the stomach in his constituency surgery in 2010, told BBC News parliamentarians would not want to make themselves less accessible in response to the killing of Mrs Cox.

He said: “What none of us would want is a big change in the culture of our country which would make it much harder for people to get to speak to, get to meet their MPs.

“After I was attacked the police did say to me, would you like a metal detector on the way into the surgery.

“But the problem with that is that it would make going to see your MP a pretty unpleasant experience. And none of us want that to happen.”

Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West, said her constituency office was temporarily closed.

She told the BBC: “We mustn’t let the actions of this man drive a wedge between MPs and the people we were elected to serve.

“The work of an MP in our surgeries, our work in the community must continue but I think it’s right today that as well as ceasing the campaigning in the referendum that we close our office.”