16/06/2016 Outside Source

Welcome back. We continue to broadcast from the small market town

of Birstall, not far from Leeds in the North of England. Today began

with the latest instalment in a fierce at all between two sides of

the UK's referendum on EU membership. It has ended in unified

grief across the political spectrum. The local member of Parliament for

this part of England, Jo Cox, was stabbed and shot in the street just

buying the. She died later from her injuries. A man was arrested.

Weapons have been recovered. 52-year-old man has been arrested at

the scene. A witness told the BBC they heard him shout put Britain

first before the attack began. This picture of Jo Cox was posted on

Twitter by her husband Brendan. Tributes have come from across the

country. We have lost a great star. She was a great campaigning MP with

huge compassion and a big heart. People are going to be very sad at

what have happened. Dreadful news. Both campaigns have suspended

activities in response to Jo Cox's death.

You will sometimes hear criticism of politicians being career

politicians, people are never held another job. That certainly was not

the case with Jo Cox. She was head of Department the Oxfam. As we have

been hearing, today she had planned to hold a surgery, a chance to meet

her constituents, not just the ones who voted for her but any the Met

have concerns about what was happening in this country or in this

constituency. Many people said it was evidence of her commitment to

succeed in politics the right way. Carole Walker looks at her

achievements. Jo Cox was one of 53 Labour MPs

newly elected in 2015. And she swiftly made

a name for herself as a rising star, hugely popular, friends

and colleagues of all parties were shocked and deeply saddened

at the news of her death. Tonight, the Prime Minister

led the tributes. This is absolutely

tragic and dreadful news and my thoughts

are with Jo's husband Brendan

and the two children She was a great

campaigning MP with huge compassion, a big heart,

and people are going to be very, very sad

at what has happened. It is just over a year

since Jo Cox was sworn in as MP Born and raised locally,

she had studied at Cambridge and was the first in her

family to graduate from university. Before she entered Parliament, Jo

Cox was a passionate charity worker, who had spent a decade in a variety

of roles with the aid agency Oxfam and at Westminster she continued

to campaign on international This is somebody who

had spent her whole career not in a bubble somewhere,

but really out in the field, working for Oxfam, of course, and absolutely

understanding how things work out there in the real world and I share

an office with Jo and, well, Parliament will be

a much poorer place. She described herself

as a proud Yorkshire lass. In London, she lived

with her husband and children I am hoping I will be

zipping down to the House of Commons,

which is about half an hour from where

I live on the boat. From the outset, her honesty

and determination won her I have decided I'm going

to approach being a member of Parliament with a decent and healthy

sense of cynicism and humour. It is an amazing building,

I am not going to let it Can the Prime Minister tell

the house whether he thinks he has led public opinion on the refugee

crisis or followed it? Away from Westminster,

constituency surgeries and open meetings are an essential

part of the work of MPs. Though referendum

campaigning was suspended today as a mark of respect,

several MPs have said young and talented colleague must

not be allowed to harm the process Are still many elements of the

tragic events of today which remain incomprehensible to the residents of

Birstall. Not least the violent attack. One man who witnessed the

attack has been speaking to Derek Thomas. I should warn you, this

description of the attack is distressing. I had finished work. I

heard a loud noise. It was like a car backfiring. As I turned around

to look, I heard a woman screaming. I saw man with what looked like a

gun in his hand. People were wrestling to get him. He wielded a

knife and they backed. What words did you hear? I heard him say

Britain first or put Britain first. He shouted it at least twice. We're

going to speak to campaign director for campaigning network. You live in

London. You have come up here -- pay your respects? I have been in London

these past few weeks. I have worked with Brendan, Jo's husband for many

years. Many of our staff have had the privilege and honour of working

with Jo. I wanted to come here. I was at the vigil service and the

church was packed to the rafters. That speaks to who Jo was. She was a

hero. A champion of the people of Birstall, but also a champion of

people around the world, from Syrian refugees to women in Africa. My

organisation has set up a message board online per-pupil been sending

thoughts. We had 10,000 messages in the last of hours. I have some of

them printed out. This is from Laura. My deep and tender

condolences to this family. Jo was a brave and smart example of a woman

serving her community. Sacrifice will be forgotten. That is a sample

of how people are feeling at this moment. And how much she meant to so

many people. It is not often you hear a politician praised for the

hard work that they do. Jaw was absolutely a hero. You're right. You

don't hear politicians being praised so often. Hash tag for thank your MP

is generating. It is astonishing to see the loss of Jo Cox has prompted

people to stop and reflect on the hard work that many politicians do.

Which perhaps doesn't get the coverage that some of the more

untoward behaviour does. Think that is right. Are really shone through

with Jo was how much he cared about unity and bringing people together.

People react to that. Use yet time and time again when someone let's

the light shine in the world, people are drawn to that and feel inspired.

That is why he loss today is so tragic for our world, for the UK

especially. You run a campaigning organisation. Some people say these

organisations have replaced the need for politics. Do you think Jo Cox

still believed in the old-fashioned principles of getting elected and

representing a fixed group of people? Absolutely. A lot of young

people are shunning away from party politics, but both models have

advantages and disadvantages. It is not either, or. For our

organisation, we fly best when we are working closely with politicians

pushing forward good agendas and good policies, like protecting

Syrian children refugees. We are so saddened by what has happened today.

Thank you. Over 10,000 messages have been put on Matt message board.

Perhaps the most moving of all Satan is today comes from Jo Cox's husband

Brendan. I will read you the statement he released in full.

A statement from Jo Cox's husband. Jo Cox represented the Labour Party,

the main opposition party in the UK. One of its Shadow Cabinet members,

Lucy Powell, has been speaking to the BBC.

Jo was a wonderful woman, parliamentarian, mother and wife.

Her life has been taken through an act of warped hatred

She had a wonderful life while she was here.

And she would want us to celebrate that life.

A lot of people have spoken about her work with refugees.

She has had a life of commitment to campaigning for those

most in need in the UK and around the world.

At Christmas time in her holidays, as well as through our work.

She raised issues with a great deal of passion and intelligence

She was on track to have a really astounding parliamentary career

It was astonishing how much of a profile she had in that time.

She has achieved a great deal in her whole life,

She knew what she wanted to see and campaign on.

She made a real impact in Parliament as a parliamentarian,

She was probably one of the most popular MPs right across the board

because she was at a bubbly, happy person who loved

life, as well as being a brilliant public servant.

Both sides have suspended their campaigning.

We need to understand the motives for this appalling

It seems clear that was one born from hatred.

As a society, we should say that is absolutely unacceptable

and take time to properly reflect on that.

And to make sure this kind of act, this sort of hatred that people feel

It is difficult for MPs because a lot of your work

One thing Jo would not want would be for MPs to hide away.

She was an MP for the place she grew up.

That was a real part about who Jo was.

A Yorkshire lass through and through.

She wouldn't want us to hide away from that.

Obviously your colleagues are all in a state of shock today?

And parliamentarians right across-the-board.

Because she was so vivid, so popular, so dynamic,

And she was undertaking her work as a constituency MP,

what we all do week in week out and we are often vilified as MPs.

And she was undertaking her work as a constituency MP,

Made as these hate characters, but at the end of the day

we are mothers, friends, wives, humans trying

And that is what Jo was trying to do today.

Abel have are just a few hours to comprehend to this news. -- people.

In Orlando, people love adds several days to start the grieving process

for the huge number of people shot dead in the nightclub. President

Obama has been visiting there. We will be live in a few minutes. Let's

continue our coverage of the murder of Jo Cox. She worked with the

charity campaigner Sarah Brown. Hearing the breaking news

that she had been shot in her constituency,

everyone just stopped. To reach the end of the day

realising she had lost her life Can you tell me how you first

met her and in what circumstances I knew her for many years

when we were involved She moved from her job

at Oxfam to come and join me She came in as the director

of our maternal mortality campaign. We were working side-by-side,

going all around the world, arguing and making the case

for policies to change to save the lives of

mothers and children It was a positive experience

although we were tackling Jo brought an energy

to that campaign. A vivacity and determination

that I think really Such a lively, bright,

bubbly person. She would always put such huge

energy behind everything she did. Really committed to helping

the most marginalised, the poorest families

and children around the world. You were friends over many years

from that first meeting. You must have been very pleased

when she became an MP? She was very committed

to the Labour Party. On charity causees,

you put that to one side. That she became chair

of the Labour women's group. She was so delighted

to represent her home in Yorkshire. There is alive page on this story on

our -- on our website and on our phone app. -- a live page. I live

with you in Birstall, a small market town in West Yorkshire in the

north-west of England, not far from Leeds. Just buying me, in front of

the local library, the member of Parliament Jo Cox was stabbed and

shot. She later died from her injuries. President Obama is in

Orlando, meeting some of those who were injured in a nightclub at the

weekend. Let's listen to some of what he said. At the worst of

humanity reared its ugly head. The best of humanity came roaring back.

Let me quote more precisely. After the worst of humanity reared its

evil head, the best of humanity came roaring back. We are all going to

have to work together. At every level of government, across

political lines, to do more to stop killers who want to terrorise us. We

will continue to be relentless. Against terrorist groups like I soak

and Al-Qaeda. Were going to destroy them. We are going to disrupt their

networks and their financing. And the flow of fighters in and out of

water fields. We are going to disrupt their propaganda. That

poisons so many minds around the world. We are going to do all that.

Our resolve is clear. But given the fact that the last two terrorist

attacks on our soil, Orlando and San Bernardino, were home-grown, carried

out by it appears not external plotters, not by vast networks or

sophisticated cells, but by deranged individuals, warped by the hateful

propaganda they had seen over the internet, then broken just to do

more to prevent these kinds of events from occurring. It will take

more than just our military. It is going to require more than just our

intelligence teams. As good as they are, as dedicated as they are, as

focused as they are, if you have lone wolf attacks like this, hatched

in the minds of a disturbed person, then we are going to have to take

different kinds of steps in order to prevent something like this from

happening. Now, those who were killed and injured here were gunned

down by a single killer with a powerful assault weapon. The motives

of this killer may have been different than the mass shooters in

Aurora or Newtown. But the instruments of death were so

similar. And now another 49 innocent people are dead. Another 53 are

injured, some are still fighting for their lives. Some other ones that

will last a lifetime. We cannot anticipate or catch every single day

range person that may wish to do harm to his neighbours or his

friends or his co-workers or strangers, but we can do something

about the amount of damage... President Obama was speaking

earlier. Offering solidarity to the LG BT community and offering a

message to all Americans that he continues to take the threat of

Islamic state very seriously indeed. Let's quickly talk with Rob Watson

who is here with be in West Yorkshire. There is a hash tag going

around just now saying thank your MP. It is extraordinary to see a

real outpouring of affection and gratitude to MPs, all as a tribute

to Jo Cox. That is incredibly unusual because for most of the time

British politicians are treated like a football by the media. And buy a

lot of voters. This extraordinary incident that has happened just

behind us, it is not just shocking here, but it sends shock waves

around the country. It will lead to debates regarding how we can discuss

politics in this country. We are going to leave it there. If the

campaign is around the UK have shown us democracy in full swing with

Everton that goes with it, perhaps today has shown a different kind of

democracy. The work of elected officials listing to the concerns of

the people they represent and doing their very best to act on them. The

country is united in grief at the loss of Jo Cox, MP. You will see

further coverage of how the nation responds here on BBC news.