Murdered MP Jo Cox’s husband Brendan to deliver Channel 4 Christmas message calling for an end to ‘rise of hatred’
Brendan Cox will pay tribute to his wife who loved Christmas time
THE husband of murdered MP Jo Cox will deliver Channel 4's alternative Christmas message this year.
Brendan Cox will pay tribute to his wife and call for an end to the "rise of hatred" in his Christmas Day broadcast.
He will speak about what has been an "awful year for our family" while telling viewers now is a "moment to reach out to somebody that might disagree with us";.
Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency days before June's EU referendum.
Mair was handed a whole life sentence last month.
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The 41-year-old mother of two young children, who loved Christmas, was a humanitarian who campaigned for women's rights around the world.
In the message, traditionally billed as an alternative to the Queen's annual Christmas Day address, Mr Cox will say: "Jo loved Christmas, the games, the traditions, the coming together of friends and family and above all the excitement of our kids.
"This year we'll try to remember how lucky we were to have Jo in our lives for so long - and not how unlucky we were to have her taken from us.
"2016 has been an awful year for our family, and it's been a divisive one for the wider world."
He will say that "fascism, xenophobia, extremism and terrorism" have divided the world and threaten "the fundamental freedoms, and democracy that our grandparents fought for".
But he will add: "That isn't how it has to be.
"Just as it has become apparent that tolerance and tolerant societies are only as strong as their defenders - there is nothing inevitable about the rise of hatred.
"Instead of being a turning point for the worse, 2016 could be a wake-up call that brings us back together."
Channel 4 has broadcast a Christmas Day message since 1993.
In previous years it has been delivered by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, the parents of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, campaigner Katie Piper and reality star Sharon Osbourne.
Channel 4's deputy head of news and current affairs Daniel Pear said: "2016 has been one of the most momentous years in recent history - punctuated by political turmoil, conflict and a stream of dramatic events.
"Brendan's message references this wider turbulence but is also a very personal reflection at Christmas, a time for family and looking back over the past year, from a man who has suffered the tragic loss of his wife and mother of his children as a result of extremism."
A charity single of the Rolling Stones classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want, in memory of Jo Cox is tipped to take the Christmas No1 spot this year.
Earlier this week Nigel Farage was condemned after accusing Mr Cox of supporting ‘extremism’ after the pair clashed over the Berlin lorry terror attack.
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