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| Thomas Mair charged with murder of MP Jo Cox | Thomas Mair charged with murder of MP Jo Cox |
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| A man has been charged with the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox, West Yorkshire police said. | A man has been charged with the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox, West Yorkshire police said. |
| Thomas Mair, a 52-year-old from Birstall, was charged with murder, grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon, the force said in a statement. | |
| Cox was killed on Thursday lunchtime outside Birstall public library, where she had been running a constituency surgery. The 41-year-old MP for Batley and Spen was taken to hospital after being shot several times and stabbed, but was declared dead at 1.48pm. | Cox was killed on Thursday lunchtime outside Birstall public library, where she had been running a constituency surgery. The 41-year-old MP for Batley and Spen was taken to hospital after being shot several times and stabbed, but was declared dead at 1.48pm. |
| Mair is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court in London on Saturday. | |
| It is understood the special crimes and counter-terrorism unit at the Crown Prosecution Service was considering what charges should be brought against the suspect. | It is understood the special crimes and counter-terrorism unit at the Crown Prosecution Service was considering what charges should be brought against the suspect. |
| The unit, led by Sue Hemmings, had been talking to detectives investigating the case. | The unit, led by Sue Hemmings, had been talking to detectives investigating the case. |
| Other developments on Friday included: | |
| • Tributes to Cox from across the political spectrum, led by Jeremy Corbyn who said that the MP had been killed by a “well of hatred”. | |
| • Parliament will be recalled on Monday to pay tribute as vigils were held in Cox’s constituency and around the country. | |
| • A charitable appeal in Cox’s name has raised more than £200,000 to support volunteers combating loneliness, to challenge extremism, and to fund search and rescue workers in Syria. The Conservatives, the Lib Dems and Ukip all said they would not contest Cox’s vacant seat of Batley and Spen at a byelection. | |
| At the Joseph Priestley memorial in Birstall close to where Cox was attacked, Corbyn and David Cameron on Friday delivered tributes to Cox. The Labour leader said: “She was taken from us in an act of hatred, in a vile act that has killed her. What happened yesterday is an attack on democracy.” He later said “those who peddle hatred, terror and division” must be stopped from poisoning the UK’s national and political life. | |
| The prime minister said the nation was shocked at the death of one of parliament’s “most passionate and brilliant campaigners”. He said it was time for the UK to think about the need to “treasure and value our democracy”. | |
| Flags were lowered to half mast at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Westminster and Holyroodhouse and both referendum campaigns suspended campaigning today as a mark of respect. | |
| Doreen Lawrence, the Labour peer whose son Stephen was killed in 1993, said there were no words that could express what it feels like to have a young person whose “life is still full of possibility, brutally snatched away from you”. Writing in the Guardian today, she says the hopes and dreams of Cox’s family had been “shredded in one foul afternoon”. | |
| Lady Lawrence warned that a message of hatred against foreigners or people with different religions had been getting louder in the UK and US, citing Donald Trump. She criticised comments by Boris Johnson about Barack Obama’s ancestry and said a poster unveiled by Nigel Farage on Thursday was reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. | |
| Vote Leave has cancelled events including a rally in Birmingham where Johnson was due to speak, while Britain Stronger In Europe said it was scrapping more than 2,000 events, including street stalls and a speech by Corbyn in Manchester. When the argument does resume, the referendum campaign is very unlikely to be fought at the same intensity as before, sources said. | |
| In the light of the killing, some politicians are questioning the tone of the referendum debate. Writing in the Guardian, Gordon Brown said: “Unless we strive for a culture of respect to replace a culture which does too little to challenge prejudice, we will be learning nothing from what happened to Jo.” |