16/06/2016

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:00:00. > :00:08.The Labour MP Jo Cox is killed in her West Yorkshire constituency.

:00:09. > :00:15.As a mark of respect, referendum campaigning is suspended.

:00:16. > :00:32.The married mother of two was a former aid worker,

:00:33. > :00:41.Jo Cox was married, she had two children, and she was stabbed here.

:00:42. > :00:49.The man who has been arrested has been named locally as Tommy Mair.

:00:50. > :00:51.Shortly afterwards, a man was arrested

:00:52. > :00:52.nearby by local uniformed police officers.

:00:53. > :00:57.Weapons, including a firearm, have also been recovered.

:00:58. > :01:07.This image was released by her husband recently. Tributes have been

:01:08. > :01:11.paid by many MPs. She was a campaigning MP with a huge heart and

:01:12. > :01:18.people are going to be very, very sad at what has happened. Dreadful,

:01:19. > :01:21.dreadful news. It is one week to go until the UK's referendum on

:01:22. > :01:24.membership of the European Union, and after news of the attack, both

:01:25. > :01:46.sides suspended their campaigns. Welcome to outside source. Birstall

:01:47. > :01:51.is a small market town in the North of England not far from the city of

:01:52. > :01:57.Leeds and I have come here because earlier in an almost unimaginable

:01:58. > :02:02.event, the local MP, Jo Cox, was murdered on a pavement just behind

:02:03. > :02:09.me. She was stabbed, she was shot by her attacker, she went about a drop

:02:10. > :02:14.in for her local constituents in the library which is about 50 metres

:02:15. > :02:18.just across the way. We understand the emergency services arrived about

:02:19. > :02:24.15 minutes after the attack, and she was taken by air ambulance to a

:02:25. > :02:30.hospital in Leeds. Within the last hour, we had confirmed that she died

:02:31. > :02:32.just before 2pm in the afternoon. We know the police are holding a

:02:33. > :02:36.52-year-old man who has been arrested and has been named locally

:02:37. > :02:40.as Tommy Mair. They're also saying they're not looking for anyone else

:02:41. > :02:44.as part of their investigation. There has been no comment whatsoever

:02:45. > :02:49.on a possible motivation for this attack. And all this happened the

:02:50. > :02:53.week before the UK vote on whether to stay in the European Union. It

:02:54. > :02:58.has been a fierce and passionate campaign on both sides, but within

:02:59. > :03:03.minutes of news of the attack coming through, both sides suspended their

:03:04. > :03:11.campaigning for the day. Let's first of all hear from the Prime Minister

:03:12. > :03:15.David Cameron. This is absolutely tragic and dreadful news, and my

:03:16. > :03:18.thoughts are with Jo's husband Brendan and their two children and

:03:19. > :03:25.their wider family. We have lost a great start. She was a great

:03:26. > :03:29.campaigning MP with huge compassion and a big heart and people are going

:03:30. > :03:44.to be very sad at this terrible news. Everyone

:03:45. > :03:47.thoughts will be with her. There seems to have been an outpouring of

:03:48. > :03:51.grief and tributes to the sort of person that she was. What did you

:03:52. > :03:58.know about her? I know that she was a very strong campaigning MP and had

:03:59. > :04:01.a great track record of looking into how we could look after Syrian

:04:02. > :04:05.refugees and the right thing to do in our world. She had a huge heart

:04:06. > :04:10.and was a very passionate campaigning MP. She was a bright

:04:11. > :04:13.star, no doubt about it, a staffer constituents, a star of Parliament

:04:14. > :04:17.and a store across the house. We have lost a start and above all I am

:04:18. > :04:20.thinking of her husband Brendan, her children, her family, and her

:04:21. > :04:26.constituents, who will be feeling this huge sense of loss. We will

:04:27. > :04:32.stop the campaigning activity and think of them and what they have

:04:33. > :04:37.lost. Jo Cox was a member of the opposition Labour Party. Its leader

:04:38. > :04:41.is Jeremy Corbyn. He has released a long statement today. This is some

:04:42. > :04:46.of it. In it, he says the whole of the Labour Party and Labour family,

:04:47. > :04:54.and indeed the whole country, will be in shock at the horrific murder

:04:55. > :04:57.of Jo Cox today. Well, her death was confirmed in the last hour, at a

:04:58. > :05:00.press conference held by West Yorkshire Police.

:05:01. > :05:02.Just before 1pm today, MP Jo Cox was attacked

:05:03. > :05:03.in Market Street in

:05:04. > :05:08.I am now very sad to have to report that she has died as a

:05:09. > :05:12.Before going into further detail, I would like to

:05:13. > :05:14.express our deepest sympathies to her family and friends at this

:05:15. > :05:23.She was attacked by a man who inflicted serious, and sadly

:05:24. > :05:32.Subsequently, there was a further attack on a 77-year-old man nearby,

:05:33. > :05:38.who has sustained injuries that are non-life-threatening.

:05:39. > :05:40.Shortly afterwards, a man was arrested

:05:41. > :05:41.nearby by local uniformed police officers.

:05:42. > :05:46.Weapons, including a firearm, have also been recovered.

:05:47. > :05:49.At 1:48 p.m., Jo Cox was pronounced deceased by a doctor who was working

:05:50. > :05:51.with a paramedic crew that were attending

:05:52. > :05:57.This is a very significant investigation, with large numbers of

:05:58. > :06:00.witnesses that are being spoken to by police at

:06:01. > :06:06.There is a large and significant crime scene and there is

:06:07. > :06:16.A full investigation is underway to establish the motive.

:06:17. > :06:18.There are specifically trained officers with

:06:19. > :06:21.Jo Cox's immediate family, who are fully aware of what has

:06:22. > :06:24.taken place, and we would ask the media to

:06:25. > :06:28.respect their privacy at this very difficult time.

:06:29. > :06:31.Additional officers are working in the local community

:06:32. > :06:34.this afternoon and evening in order to provide reassurance and support

:06:35. > :06:40.Clearly, as this enquiry is at a very early stage,

:06:41. > :06:44.and we have an individual under arrest, we are not in a position to

:06:45. > :06:51.We are not looking for anyone else in

:06:52. > :07:01.connection with this incident at present.

:07:02. > :07:04.I am Mark Burns Williamson, the Police and Crime

:07:05. > :07:07.Commissioner for West Yorkshire.

:07:08. > :07:10.My thoughts and prayers are with Jo Cox's family at

:07:11. > :07:16.I have worked closely with Jo since she was elected, and

:07:17. > :07:18.I am deeply shocked that such a talented

:07:19. > :07:20.young woman has been so

:07:21. > :07:26.senselessly attacked and killed whilst working in her constituency

:07:27. > :07:32.This is a truly shocking incident but I want

:07:33. > :07:35.to try and reassure communities that this is a

:07:36. > :07:46.localised incident, albeit one that has a much wider impact.

:07:47. > :07:51.I must stress that investigations are

:07:52. > :07:56.And we need to let the police do their job in understanding exactly

:07:57. > :07:59.what has happened that has led to this hugely tragic incident and

:08:00. > :08:04.channel all of our thoughts into supporting the families and

:08:05. > :08:23.Reverend ball is the bigger of the local church. Thank you for making

:08:24. > :08:27.Time for us. Hard to copy hand what has happened here today? It

:08:28. > :08:32.certainly is. It has been a terrible shock for me and for the whole

:08:33. > :08:36.community. Tellers about Jo. Did you meet? Yes, I met her. She was

:08:37. > :08:40.bubbly, she was lively, she was determined to work for her local

:08:41. > :08:42.community. She was just a lovely person. Sometimes when you talk

:08:43. > :08:46.about politicians, they are divisive figures, but I have not heard any --

:08:47. > :08:49.anyone say anything negative about her character and personality,

:08:50. > :08:54.regardless of what their politics are. I am not aware of anything. As

:08:55. > :09:00.I say, she was determined to help the community. There are people

:09:01. > :09:04.watching is all around the world. They are looking at Birstall. They

:09:05. > :09:10.will not know this place. Can you tell us about it? It is a community

:09:11. > :09:15.of 15,000 people, it has a retail Park, it has a Jacobean house and

:09:16. > :09:20.gardens, it had a paint factory and churches within it. They are good

:09:21. > :09:25.people, Wilts people. They have got good hearts. I can see the cover is

:09:26. > :09:29.here from the market. Give us an idea of what would have been

:09:30. > :09:33.happening here around lunchtime when the attack took place? It is market

:09:34. > :09:35.day today, and that is one of the reasons Joe with your doing her

:09:36. > :09:39.surgery, meeting people in the community. Market stalls would have

:09:40. > :09:43.been set up and they would have been selling of the different kinds of

:09:44. > :09:49.things. They come once a week and people come out to it and to the

:09:50. > :09:54.local shops around. Just to explain to people, behind the Reverend is

:09:55. > :09:58.the local library where Jo Cox would have been meeting her constituents.

:09:59. > :10:01.It was an advertised surgery which anybody can go along to to speak to

:10:02. > :10:05.her about what they were concerned about. Just a moment ago, there were

:10:06. > :10:08.a couple of 11 or 12-year-old girls sitting on the pavement and steering

:10:09. > :10:12.through the police tape across the way to where she was attacked. Hard

:10:13. > :10:16.to know, really, what to say to them or any of the other teenagers and

:10:17. > :10:21.kids who have been looking on today. It is a story that is hard to

:10:22. > :10:26.explain or copy hand. So often we are talking about gun crime on the

:10:27. > :10:31.other side of the water. It all happens in America. When it comes to

:10:32. > :10:35.your own community, it brings up whole issues of life and death. The

:10:36. > :10:41.man who has been arrested is being named locally as Tommy Mair. Are you

:10:42. > :10:44.aware of him? Don't know him, no. We heard the police saying now the

:10:45. > :10:47.effort must go into supporting Jo Cox's family and those who knew her,

:10:48. > :10:52.and I'm sure you will be part of that. How do you go about rebuilding

:10:53. > :10:59.a community, supporting a community after an awful tragedy like this? We

:11:00. > :11:01.will build on what is there. There are strong people up here and we

:11:02. > :11:05.will be working with them and showing them that there is care and

:11:06. > :11:11.that is why we have a bit odd night in the church. We are going to be

:11:12. > :11:15.helping people to be sorrowful and ask the questions that we do ask at

:11:16. > :11:20.times like this. I was going to ask you about that vigil. What do you

:11:21. > :11:24.expect will be the activities this evening? We will be lighting a

:11:25. > :11:27.candle and spending some time in the quiet and is giving people the

:11:28. > :11:36.opportunity to reflect and have their own prayers and whatever they

:11:37. > :11:43.want and especially for Jo's family and friends who must be devastated.

:11:44. > :11:47.Reverend, thank you very much for your time. That is Reverend Paul

:11:48. > :11:53.Aiton from the local parish church. I mentioned that Jo Cox was a member

:11:54. > :11:57.of the opposition Labour Party. It's leader is Jeremy Corbyn. I read you

:11:58. > :12:00.a written statement that was released a few minutes ago, but here

:12:01. > :12:07.he is talking and paying tribute to Joe Cox. The whole of the Labour

:12:08. > :12:13.family are devastated tonight. Jo Cox has been killed doing her duty,

:12:14. > :12:17.doing her work as a constituency MP. She is somebody who dedicated her

:12:18. > :12:23.life to human rights and to justice. She worked for anti-slavery

:12:24. > :12:27.campaigns, she worked for Oxfam, and she became an MP for the area where

:12:28. > :12:32.she was born and grew up and loved. In Parliament, she was respected

:12:33. > :12:34.across the whole house. As somebody with a deep commitment and deep

:12:35. > :12:43.passion for human rights and justice. Sadly, today, she died. She

:12:44. > :12:46.was killed on the streets of her constituency doing her duty as a

:12:47. > :12:55.local member of Parliament, helping people. She leaves behind a husband,

:12:56. > :13:00.a wonderful man who likewise spends his life campaigning for human

:13:01. > :13:04.rights and justice, and she leaves behind two young children, two young

:13:05. > :13:10.children who will never grow up to see their mum again. They can be

:13:11. > :13:13.proud of what she was, they can be proud of what she did, and they can

:13:14. > :13:20.be very proud of everything that she stood for. We come together at a

:13:21. > :13:26.time like this. We come together to support the family and to mourn, and

:13:27. > :13:31.to reflect that violence is not an answer, violence is not an answer to

:13:32. > :13:36.anything. We need to come together and express our deepest condolences

:13:37. > :13:41.to Jo and her family. We have lost a wonderful woman. We have lost a

:13:42. > :13:46.wonderful member of Parliament, but our democracy will go on. Her work

:13:47. > :13:50.will go on. As we mourn her memory, we will work in her memory to

:13:51. > :13:58.achieve that better world she spent her life trying to achieve. Well,

:13:59. > :14:01.the husband of Jo Cox, who died on a pavement or was attacked on a

:14:02. > :14:05.pavement just behind me here in Birstall in the north of England and

:14:06. > :14:09.he died not long afterwards, her husband has released a statement.

:14:10. > :14:14.Let me read it to you in full. He says, today is the beginning of a

:14:15. > :14:19.new chapter in our lives, more difficult, more painful, less

:14:20. > :14:24.joyful, less full of love. I and Jo's friends and family are going to

:14:25. > :14:27.work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to

:14:28. > :14:30.fight against the hated that killed Jill. Jo believed any better world

:14:31. > :14:34.and she fought for it every day of her life and she did so with an

:14:35. > :14:38.energy that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two

:14:39. > :14:42.things above all to happen now, one that our precious children are baked

:14:43. > :14:45.in love and to back that we all unite in love to fight against the

:14:46. > :14:51.hated that killed her. He doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it

:14:52. > :14:56.is poisonous. Jo would have no regrets about life. She lived every

:14:57. > :14:59.day of it to the full. So that quite extraordinary and incredibly

:15:00. > :15:04.eloquent statement released by Brendan Cox, the husband of Jo Cox,

:15:05. > :15:09.who has been murdered today. Let me show you next some of the reaction

:15:10. > :15:14.that we are getting from Westminster. The BBC's Tom Bateman

:15:15. > :15:19.is live with us. Can you share with some of the thoughts you have been

:15:20. > :15:23.hearing in Westminster today? You know it is telling that Jo Cox, as

:15:24. > :15:27.you have been sailing, was a new MP. She was part of the intake into

:15:28. > :15:32.Parliament when there was a British general election just last year and

:15:33. > :15:37.she had been elected in the place she was born there in the North of

:15:38. > :15:42.England with a big majority, but very quickly had become somebody who

:15:43. > :15:46.played -- Jim Eadie big impression in the British House of Commons, the

:15:47. > :15:51.parliament here in the UK, she brought really what had been a life

:15:52. > :15:55.campaigning to her work. She had travelled to places like Uganda, she

:15:56. > :15:58.had travelled to Darfur, to Afghanistan, and she brought all of

:15:59. > :16:01.that to her work, and I think it is really telling that the tributes

:16:02. > :16:06.that have been paid here tonight really reflect on the humanitarian

:16:07. > :16:12.work that she had done, her care for the Syrian refugees, her support for

:16:13. > :16:16.the people who have been caught up in the terrible conflict there, and

:16:17. > :16:20.so, as you have been saying, we have had Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the

:16:21. > :16:24.Opposition Labour Party, talking about the whole Labour Party, and

:16:25. > :16:28.indeed our democracy in the UK coming together to pay tribute and

:16:29. > :16:33.of course from Prime Minister David Cameron here who has really

:16:34. > :16:38.explained why his view it was appropriate to suspend what has been

:16:39. > :16:42.happening here, that important referendum campaign about Britain's

:16:43. > :16:47.EU membership, tonight all of that is on hold, politics has paused this

:16:48. > :16:52.evening while MPs pay tribute to Jo Cox. And I was mentioning a little

:16:53. > :16:58.bit earlier that today, Jo Cox was going to be holding what we call

:16:59. > :17:01.eight surgery, an opportunity to meet local constituents and hear

:17:02. > :17:05.their concerns, and this is right at the core of how all MPs go about

:17:06. > :17:09.their work here in the UK, isn't it? Yes, that is right, they are called

:17:10. > :17:12.constituency surgeries and they are really an opportunity for MPs to

:17:13. > :17:16.meet their constituents, to meet the people that they represent, whose

:17:17. > :17:23.views they should be bringing to the Houses of Parliament in London and

:17:24. > :17:26.speaking up for. Now, what tends to happen is MPs, British MPs, will

:17:27. > :17:30.hold these constituency surgeries, usually on Fridays at the end of the

:17:31. > :17:33.week, and they will really hear the concerns of local people. It might

:17:34. > :17:36.be anything, it might be about problems with their housing, about

:17:37. > :17:41.not being able to pay their bills, about more serious issues that they

:17:42. > :17:48.think they need to try and get political support about. Now, Jo

:17:49. > :17:52.Cox, we know was an MP. She was born in that seat is there in West

:17:53. > :17:56.Yorkshire. She lived there. She described herself as a proud

:17:57. > :17:59.Yorkshire lass. She knew many of the people who would be coming to her

:18:00. > :18:03.with their grievances, with their problems, so this is part of the

:18:04. > :18:06.Democratic, the political process, here in the United Kingdom. There

:18:07. > :18:13.have been a couple of incidents in the past. MPs being attacked. But in

:18:14. > :18:16.the last 15 or 16 years, it has happened I think twice only so it

:18:17. > :18:21.tells you something about the rarity of this kind of event and therefore

:18:22. > :18:25.the shock that this is bringing and certainly none of those previous

:18:26. > :18:30.events had anything like the terrible tragic consequences that

:18:31. > :18:34.have happened tonight. And as the whole country tries to compare this

:18:35. > :18:39.tragedy, suddenly politics feels a little less important, but none the

:18:40. > :18:43.less, there will be people around the world wondering what happens now

:18:44. > :18:49.with the referendum campaign and at what point will it be appropriate

:18:50. > :18:53.for that to resume? Well, that is the question, of course, and leaders

:18:54. > :18:56.of the campaign notably the Prime Minister, will have to ponder. I

:18:57. > :19:00.think obviously for the coming hours, this period of pores and

:19:01. > :19:06.reflection will continue, as you would expect, but the referendum

:19:07. > :19:11.here is only a week away. It is next Thursday that British people will go

:19:12. > :19:15.to the polls to decide whether or not Britain should remain a part of

:19:16. > :19:19.the European Union or leave it, and so I think clearly there will come a

:19:20. > :19:23.point where the campaigns feel it appropriate to get that worked

:19:24. > :19:27.underway again, and clearly there are very packed diaries and lots of

:19:28. > :19:32.events that were due to be taking place in the next 24 or 48 hours of

:19:33. > :19:36.that is a decision I expect we will get some kind of guidance on really

:19:37. > :19:42.by tomorrow, I would have thought. OK, Tom. Thank you very much. That

:19:43. > :19:45.was Tom, live from Westminster. I am speaking to you from Birstall, a

:19:46. > :19:49.small market town in the North of England, not far from the city of

:19:50. > :19:52.Leeds, where earlier the local member of Parliament, Jo Cox, a

:19:53. > :19:56.member of the opposition Labour Party was murdered in the street.

:19:57. > :20:02.She was stabbed and she was shot and she died at Leeds General Infirmary

:20:03. > :20:08.a a few minutes later. Let's talk to a local councillor here in Birstall.

:20:09. > :20:12.He is joining us live. Thank you very much for being with us. Tell us

:20:13. > :20:27.your emotions today. Very shocked. This made. -- dismayed. She was a

:20:28. > :20:34.great woman. It was only last year when she was elected and everybody.

:20:35. > :20:41.We would get behind her, she is working for us. And she listened to

:20:42. > :20:50.the people. And she was always there. Even before the election, you

:20:51. > :20:57.know. Our husband has spoken about her zest for life. Did you feel that

:20:58. > :21:00.when you met her? Yet, yes. Did she have an energy for getting things

:21:01. > :21:16.done, for pushing forward the things she believed in? Yes, she was very

:21:17. > :21:27.excited. She was a great woman. I am sorry that it happened. It shouldn't

:21:28. > :21:32.have happened. She had life to go on. She was great. Behind us we can

:21:33. > :21:36.see the police tape and the forensics officers going about their

:21:37. > :21:39.work and the police keeping that area cordoned off. Could you ever

:21:40. > :21:42.imagine you would have seen a scene like this in this small town? Last

:21:43. > :22:04.week, at the same time, there was... I was here at 1:55pm

:22:05. > :22:09.and I sat down there and police were there and one of the police officers

:22:10. > :22:18.came to me and he said there had been a big tragedy, Jo Cox has been

:22:19. > :22:25.stabbed and shot at. I was quiet. I didn't say a word. When you arrived,

:22:26. > :22:30.just before two p.m., what did you see? Can you describe that for us?

:22:31. > :22:36.Yes, there was police around there. Her body was down there, but I got

:22:37. > :22:42.stopped here. The other people were just talking and they were listening

:22:43. > :22:50.and soon the police came to me and he said she had been taken to the

:22:51. > :22:53.Leeds hospital. It sounds by all accounts that she had a great

:22:54. > :23:01.political career ahead of her, that she was going to go in a lot of

:23:02. > :23:06.places. Of course, of course. I am sorry to lose her. You -- we

:23:07. > :23:10.appreciate you speaking to us. Thank you very much indeed, councillor. So

:23:11. > :23:15.that is one perspective here from Birstall. We will bring you

:23:16. > :23:18.up-to-date with his story, which is dominating the news here in the UK

:23:19. > :23:24.and to some degree around the world. Here is a report from Carole Walker.

:23:25. > :23:28.Jo Cox was one of 53 Labour MPs newly elected in 2015. And she

:23:29. > :23:34.swiftly made a name for herself as a rising star, hugely popular, friends

:23:35. > :23:38.and colleagues of all parties were shocked and deeply saddened at the

:23:39. > :23:42.news of her death. Tonight, the Prime Minister led the tributes.

:23:43. > :23:47.This is absolutely tragic and dreadful news and my thoughts are

:23:48. > :23:54.with Jo's Husband Brendan and the two children and their wider family.

:23:55. > :23:59.We have lost a great star. She was a great campaigning MP with huge

:24:00. > :24:04.compassion, a big heart, and people are going to be very, very sad at

:24:05. > :24:09.what has happened. Dreadful, dreadful news. It is just over a

:24:10. > :24:13.year since Jo Cox was sworn in as MP for Batley and Spen. Born and raised

:24:14. > :24:17.locally, she had studied at Cambridge and was the first in her

:24:18. > :24:21.family to graduate from university. Before she entered Parliament, Jo

:24:22. > :24:26.Cox was a passionate charity worker, who had spent a decade in a variety

:24:27. > :24:30.of roles with the aid agency Oxfam and at Westminster she continued to

:24:31. > :24:34.campaign on international development and foreign policy. This

:24:35. > :24:39.is somebody who had spent her whole career not in a bubble somewhere,

:24:40. > :24:46.but really out in the field, working for Oxfam, of course, and absolutely

:24:47. > :24:53.understanding how things work out there in the real world and I share

:24:54. > :24:58.an office with Jo and, well, Parliament will be a much poorer

:24:59. > :25:04.place. She described herself as a proud Yorkshire lass. In London, she

:25:05. > :25:08.lived with her husband and children on a barge in the Thames. I am

:25:09. > :25:11.hoping I will be zipping down to the House of Commons, which is about

:25:12. > :25:16.half an hour from where I live on the boat. From the outset, her

:25:17. > :25:19.honesty and determination won her huge respect. I have decided I'm

:25:20. > :25:23.going to approach being a member of Parliament with a decent and healthy

:25:24. > :25:27.sense of cynicism and humour. It is very humbling. It is an amazing

:25:28. > :25:30.building, I am not going to let it intimidate me. And it certainly

:25:31. > :25:33.didn't. Canny Prime Minister tell the house whether he thinks he has

:25:34. > :25:39.led public opinion on the refugee crisis or follow that? Away from

:25:40. > :25:45.Westminster, constituency surgeries and open meetings are an essential

:25:46. > :25:49.part of the work of MPs. Though referendum campaigning was suspended

:25:50. > :25:52.today as a mark of respect, several MPs have said the tragic death of a

:25:53. > :25:58.young and talented colleague must not be allowed to harm the process

:25:59. > :26:04.of democracy. Carol Walker, BBC News. And there is further coverage

:26:05. > :26:12.of this story through the BBC News application and the BBC News

:26:13. > :26:16.website. Well, next year on outside source, I would like to speak to

:26:17. > :26:20.Alison Scott, who is just joining me. We have only just met but I

:26:21. > :26:24.assume you live here in Birstall. Tell us when you first heard that

:26:25. > :26:27.something flat happened. I was at work today in Leeds and it was on

:26:28. > :26:33.Facebook and that is how we found out, so social media. Jo Cox was a

:26:34. > :26:38.new MP. She came in in the last general election and she seems to be

:26:39. > :26:41.incredibly popular. Yes, I think she was. She was very well known by

:26:42. > :26:45.everybody in Birstall and a very popular figure. She was holding a

:26:46. > :26:49.surgery just in the library behind us why guess he was taking a regular

:26:50. > :26:53.and keen interest in how you all are in this town. Absolutely. She was in

:26:54. > :26:58.the Women campaign and she was talking to local people, as she

:26:59. > :27:02.would normally have done. Doing her job. When you heard, I assume you

:27:03. > :27:06.started communicating with people in the town. What did you study here

:27:07. > :27:09.about what was happening here in the immediate aftermath? We heard there

:27:10. > :27:12.had been a shooting and a stabbing and at first we heard there was more

:27:13. > :27:15.than one perpetrator and then we heard it was just one man and that

:27:16. > :27:20.somebody else had also been injured so of course my first thought was

:27:21. > :27:24.that I had to make sure that my husband was OK but it was just

:27:25. > :27:27.incomprehensible that it had happened, absolutely and

:27:28. > :27:30.compensable, and we are all in shock and our thoughts go to her husband

:27:31. > :27:34.and her children and the rest of her family. It is a terrible thing.

:27:35. > :27:37.Terrifying here for some of the kids here because I understand that the

:27:38. > :27:40.school was locked down for a period of time and the parents could not

:27:41. > :27:43.pick their children up. The school is just down there on the left-hand

:27:44. > :27:50.sides of the children would probably have heard the shots. Very, very

:27:51. > :27:52.close, is extremely worrying for the local businesses, who all had to

:27:53. > :27:56.close their doors and hope that this would come to an end. There is no

:27:57. > :28:00.one behind us apart from police because this whole scene is sealed

:28:01. > :28:04.off, but on a normal Thursday lunchtime, what would Birstall be

:28:05. > :28:09.like? There is a market, not a very big one, but it is a busy little

:28:10. > :28:13.town. People just going around, the library is very well used.

:28:14. > :28:16.Politicians were also by the local area and children and things like

:28:17. > :28:21.that, so it would have been busy and people just going around so that is

:28:22. > :28:25.what makes it all the more shocking, really, just a normal day in a

:28:26. > :28:29.normal smog village that this could happen. Now, the community has to to

:28:30. > :28:33.go about paying tribute to her and grieving for her. How would you like

:28:34. > :28:37.that to happen? I think that she needs to be rendered and I am sure

:28:38. > :28:41.that people will be bringing flowers and remembering her and I hope that

:28:42. > :28:45.there will be services in all of the local churches to remember her. Y

:28:46. > :28:49.very much for your time. We appreciate it. Well, that is where

:28:50. > :28:53.we are going to leave it. If you are just joining me, I am live from

:28:54. > :28:57.Birstall, a small town in the North of England where today, almost

:28:58. > :29:03.unimaginably, the local member of Parliament was stabbed and shot. She

:29:04. > :29:07.was called Jo Cox. She had a husband, Brendan, and two young

:29:08. > :29:10.children. Although she was taken to a local hospital, she died from her

:29:11. > :29:15.injuries. We will continue our coverage of this story now with the

:29:16. > :29:16.help of the BBC's look North