Breaking News - Attack On UK Politican, MP Murdered.

[Sheilbh]

For all our grumbling the UK is a pretty safe and tranquil place. This is almost unprecedented. I'm shocked 

Yeah. I'm really shocked. She was doing her job.

Indeed.

From the look of it, this might be our first political assassination in how many years?

Apparently the first since the Troubles. Last sitting MP to be murdered was in 1990.

Edit: Incidentally the referendum campaign's been suspended. There's a debate somewhere now which is still going ahead but is now more a conversation on the topic of 'how to have a public discussion'.

[Valmy]

Nationalist asshole.

[Jaron]

RiP

[mongers]

François Hollande 
    
J'exprime ma profonde émotion après l'assassinat de Jo Cox. J'adresse mes condoléances à sa famille et ma solidarité au peuple britannique.

16 Jun 2016 @fhollande

[Valmy]

I thought of the assassination of Jean Jaurès when I heard about this. I wonder if Hollande did the same.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

In addition to the horror of the attack, it would be sad if this became a deciding factor in a very close EU referendum campaign?

it very well might.
Reminds me of the Pim Fortuyn murder right before the Dutch elections a decade or so ago.

[PRC]

Reminds me of the Gabrielle Giffords Tuscon shooting.

[Malthus]

Reminds me of the Gabrielle Giffords Tuscon shooting.

I agree, but the political impact of this murder is likely to be a lot greater. God knows what will happen now with the referendum.

[Drakken]

I wouldn't bet on it, so late in the campaign. It was obviously a nut case.

I vividly remember Anna Lindh's murder in Sweden in 2003 during the Euro referendum campaign. As she was in favour of joining the Euro and actively and heavily campaigning for it, many believed it would sway voters to vote Yes as it was too close to call at that point. Turned out they were all wrong, it still went 55-43 against the Euro.

[Liep]

In less grave news, 2nd day straight with an assault on a politician here. This time a politician was spat on when she was being interviewed for tv about the recent hate towards politicians.

The perpetrator was arrested and will face up to 8 years in prison (most likely a lot less though). :justice:

[mongers]

Reminds me of the Gabrielle Giffords Tuscon shooting.

Yes and she's just posted about the event:

Gabrielle Giffords
@GabbyGiffords    22m
The scores of events that I and so many others like Jo Cox have hosted represent the importance of a democracy connected to its citizens.
View conversation ·   
   Gabrielle Giffords
@GabbyGiffords    43m
The assassination of MP Jo Cox at the hands of a man driven by hatred is a manifestation of a coarseness in our politics that must stop.
View details ·   
   Gabrielle Giffords
@GabbyGiffords    4h
Absolutely sickened to hear of the assassination of Jo Cox. She was young, courageous, and hardworking. A rising star, mother, and wife.

[dps]

Reminds me of the Gabrielle Giffords Tuscon shooting.

I agree, but the political impact of this murder is likely to be a lot greater. God knows what will happen now with the referendum.

I think that "surgery" thing (which I didn't know about until this thread) is a fine idea, and I hope this doesn't change that.

[Sheilbh]

The MP goes to a public building, such as a library, and anyone can go and talk to them about their concerns (usually political in nature of course). I guess they are called surgeries because the experience is rather similar to visiting one's GP. You wait for your turn then have a one-to-one meeting with your MP.

We're very lucky as a society in terms of direct access to our elected officials. I hope we don't end up with lots of security in between that.

Thought of a friend whose dad used to be an MP. He commented that every kid of an MP has seen their parent being harangued in the street and it's awful to think in that situation they may not come home. She was clearly a very good MP but most MPs and most politicians are good people in it for the right reasons and I hope we remember that more.

Surprised how shocked and upset I am. Saw that MPs are now getting personal security briefings and it's just really sad. It doesn't happen here

Incidentally, lovely piece by Andrew Mitchell (who was being interviewed when the news broke and dealt with it incredibly well):

My fearless friend Jo Cox, a five-foot bundle of Yorkshire grit
ANDREW MITCHELL
16 JUNE 2016 • 7:13PM

Jo Cox was a force of nature, a five-foot bundle of Yorkshire grit and determination absolutely committed to helping other people.

I first met her shortly after she came into the House of Commons for the first time last year. She came to see me to talk about international development, the issue she'd done so much work on.

She said she wanted to set up a new parliamentary group to talk about Syria and the appalling situation there.

What was so striking about that was that here was a newly-elected Labour MP who had so little time for the petty aspects of party-political life of Westminster.

The hardest thing to think about is her two lovely little children. They would come in to Portcullis House for tea with their mum, and now she's gone
At the time, her party leadership was against military intervention in Syria and mine was in favour, which meant the atmosphere around the issue was quite heated. But she was completely uninterested in any of that. She just wanted to do the right thing.

A lot people in her situation would have been very reluctant to work with a wicked old Tory like me, but Jo never minded. During Commons debates about Syria, we would sit across the chamber exchanging text messages.

When we set up the All Party Parliamentary Group on Syria, she and I chaired it together, taking evidence from military commanders, diplomats and officials from the region. She might have been new to Westminster, but she led the way.

She was fearless, utterly fearless. Last year, we went to see the Russian ambassador in London, to give him a rollicking about the terrible way his country has behaved in Syria.

He's a professional diplomat and a pretty tough case. But Jo got the better of him: it was her mixture of charm and steel.

The best word I can think of for her is ballsy. The ambassador just didn't know what to make of her, and she left him looking quite discomforted.

Her great passion in politics was helping the poorest people in the world.

I have no doubt that if Jo had lived, her talent and determination would have taken her to the Cabinet one day, presumably in development or foreign affairs. She'd have done a great job.

Jo grew up in the constituency she represented, and she was committed to the place and the people. She was Yorkshire through and through.

A vital part of our democracy is that people have full and free access to their MPs. That might sometimes involve an element of risk, but we have to be careful not to overstate that, especially since lots of people in lots of jobs face risks: MPs aren't a special case.

I first became an MP in 1987 and I've done hundreds and hundreds of surgeries and never felt under threat in any of them.

It really is horribly unusual for MPs to be in danger from the public.

And Jo was the last one you would ever have thought would ever be at risk, because she was such a lovely, kind person.

It's hard to believe that someone so brave and fearless and fun is dead, but the hardest thing to think about is her two lovely little children. They would come in to Portcullis House for tea with their mum, and now she's gone.

Andrew Mitchell, Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, was International Development Secretary 2010-12

[mongers]

....
Surprised how shocked and upset I am. Saw that MPs are now getting personal security briefings and it's just really sad. It doesn't happen here
......

I feel that way, though I'm not surprised by it, after all a positive person and mother has been killed, but it's also a direct attack on our democracy.

A democratic process, which up until now, hasn't exactly been impressive in this referendum campaign.

Also not sure politicians should be calling a halt to active campaigning tomorrow, as we've just six days left to have a proper, broader and a more considered debate about this key decision facing this country.

[Admiral Yi]

Thanks for cropping mongers.