David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn call for tolerance and announce Parliament to be re-called in extraordinary joint statement on murder of MP Jo Cox
Party leaders joined heartbroken friends and colleagues to pay tribute to the mum-of-two in Birstall
DAVID Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn called for tolerance and announced Parliament will be recalled after the horrific murder of MP Jo Cox.
The PM and the Labour leader said 'our nation is in shock' as they made an unprecedented joint statement to call for unity, close to the spot where the mum of two was slaughtered yesterday.
Joined by Commons Speaker John Bercow, the pair leader paid their respects to the fallen MP and laid flowers in Birstall, West Yorkshire this afternoon.
Mr Corbyn said he had asked the Prime Minister to recall MPs to Parliament on Monday to pay tribute to their 41-year-old colleague, and that this had been agreed.
The House of Commons is currently not sitting due to the EU referendum on June 23.
Speaking about Jo Cox's death Mr Cameron said: "Two children have lost their mother and a husband has lost his loving wife.
"Parliament has lost one of its most passionate campaigners and the nation is shocked.
"Today our nation is rightly shocked. And I think it is a moment to stand back and think about some of the things that are so important about our country.
"The fact that we should treasure and value our democracy, where members of parliament are out in the public, accountable to the public and available to the public and that's how Jo died.
"She died doing her job."
The PM went on to say: "Where we see hatred, where we find division, where we see intolerance we must drive it out of our politics and out of our public life and out of our communities.
"If we truly want to honour Jo, then what we should do is recognise that her values - service, community, tolerance - the values she lived by and worked by, those are the values that we need to redouble in our national life in the months and years to come."
Mother-of-two Mrs Cox was shot and stabbed in broad daylight yesterday near a library where she held regular constituency surgeries.
A 52-year-old man, named locally as Tommy Mair, was arrested in connection and remain in police custody.
The two party leaders paid tribute to the universally admired MP at a memorial set up in the Yorkshire town where mourners have been paying their respects.
Mr Corbyn said of his Labour colleague: "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.
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"Jo was an exceptional, wonderful, very talented woman, taken from us in her early 40s when she had so much to give and so much of her life ahead of her.
"It's a tragedy beyond tragedy what has happened yesterday."
He went on to say: "In her memory, we will not allow those people that spread hatred and poison to divide our society, we will strengthen our democracy, strengthen our free speech.
"She was a truly wonderful woman. I'm deeply sorry, deeply sad, for what has happened to her.
"My condolences to all the people of Batley and Spen who she represented so well, and of course to a wonderful family - her husband, her children and all of her wider family."
In tearful scenes earlier today, fellow Labour MPs visited the spot to lay flowers for their fallen colleague.
Heartbroken former shadow secretary Rachel Reeves broke down in tears as she told how the community had been left "numb and angry" by Mrs Cox's murder.
“This is such a normal place,” she said.
"The sort of street that is recognisable in any part.
“To think that such a horrific and violent crime took place against such a wonderful woman… there is a sense of numbness, not being able to believe what has happened.
“And anger that someone could take away someone who had so much to give.
“There is also grief and sorrow at the death of a mother, wife, daughter and a friend to many of us.”
Today our nation is rightly shocked
Here is David Cameron's full statement on Jo Cox's murder:
“I first met Jo in Darfur in 2006 where she was doing what she was brilliant at, which was looking after and saving the lives of vulnerable refugees.
“And here we are today commemorating her life that’s been lost.
“And of course the most profound thing that has happened is that 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 the fact that politics is about serving others.
“Today our nation is rightly shocked. And I think it is a moment to stand back and think about some of the things that are so important about our country.
“The fact that we should treasure and value our democracy, where members of parliament are out in the public, accountable to the public, available to the public, and that’s how Jo died.
“She died doing her job.
“I think the second thing is that we should recognise that politics is about public service.
“People who go into public life, they want to act in the public interest, to pursue the national interest, to do things for other people, to make the country, make the world a better place.
“Politicians disagree with each other. We often disregard what politicians say, disregard each other and the rest of it.
“But at the end of the day that is what it is about, and that is what Jo showed it is all about.
“But, perhaps, most important of all we should value and see as precious the democracy that we have on these islands were 65 million of us live together and work together and get on together.
“We do have peace, we do have stability and we do have a measure of economic wellbeing better than other countries, obviously still to be spread far more widely.
“And it is all underpinned by tolerance.
“So where we see hatred, where we find division, where we see intolerance we must drive it out of our politics and out of our public life and out of our communities.
“And if we truly want to honour Jo, then what we should do is recognise that her values - service, community, tolerance - the values she lived by and worked by, those are the values that we need to redouble in our national life in the months and years to come.”
Shadow cabinet member Lucy Powell also paid a tearful tribute to Mrs Cox at the scene.
Other MPs chose to defiantly go ahead with their constituency surgeries in the wake of Mrs Cox's murder.
The Union Jack flag flew at half mast today over the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and City Hall.
With just days to go until the EU referendum, both Leave and Remain campaigns suspended hostilities in a symbol of unity.
Downing Street also confirmed the Conservative party would not be contesting Mrs Cox's seat as a mark of respect.
Ukip and the Lib Dems confirmed they too would not be fielding a candidate in the upcoming by-election.
It's a tragedy beyond tragedy
Here is Jeremy Corbyn's full statement on Jo Cox's murder:
“We need our whole society to be secure. Jo was brutally murdered here 24 hours ago in this town - a town she loved, a town she grew up in, serving a community she loved.
"And in her life she'd worked for anti-slavery campaigns, she'd worked for Oxfam, she was a campaigner for human rights and justice all around the world.
"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.
"Jo was an exceptional, wonderful, very talented woman, taken from us in her early 40s when she had so much to give and so much of her life ahead of her.
"It's a tragedy beyond tragedy what has happened yesterday.
"In her memory, we will not allow those people that spread hatred and poison to divide our society, we will strengthen our democracy, strengthen our free speech.
"She was a truly wonderful woman. I'm deeply sorry, deeply sad, for what has happened to her.
“My condolences to all the people of Batley and Spen who she represented so well, and of course to a wonderful family - her husband, her children and all of her wider family.
“I've asked the Prime Minister and Speaker for the recall of Parliament on Monday and they've accepted that request.
“And Parliament will be recalled on Monday so that we can pay due tribute to her on behalf of everybody in this country who values democracy, values the right of free speech and values the right of political expression, free from the kind of brutality that Jo suffered.
"That's why we all need to come together to understand that everyone must have protection and security in order to function in a democratic society."