A square behind a popular concert hall in Brussels is to be named in honour of Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered in her constituency by a far-right terrorist, as part of a drive to increase female representation on the streets of the Belgian capital.

A junction by the city centre venue, Ancienne Belgique, to which Cox was a frequent visitor, has been chosen to carry the politician’s name.

The 41-year-old MP, who was killed shortly before the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, had lived in Brussels for about six years. During her stay in the city she worked for the MEP Glenys Kinnock and Oxfam, where she was head of policy, before being elected to the House of Commons in 2015.

Mohamed Ouriaghli‏, an MP representing Brussels, tweeted: “On 27.09 at 1pm, Helen Joanne Cox will have her name attributed to the place located at the back of the Ancienne Belgique, a place she frequented during her stay at #BXL. This event is in her honour and in the wish to feminise the squares and street names of the @VilleBruxelles”.

Brussels city council launched an action plan for “female and male equality” in 2014, under which a number of women are set to be honoured.

Other political figures to be featured on the city’s streets and squares include the Belgian feminist Léonie La Fontaine; the founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union, Huda Sharawi; and Gabrielle Petit, a Belgian who spied for the British secret service during the first world war.

Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP and son of Cox’s former employer, tweeted in response to the announcement: “What a lovely gesture. Jo loved living in Brussels, and back in the day we all loved going to the Ancienne Belgique – a fantastic live music venue. Kudos and ‘un grand merci’ to the City of Brussels, for doing this.”

Cox was killed on 16 June 2016 after being shot and stabbed multiple times in Birstall, in west Yorkshire, where she was due to hold a constituency surgery.

Thomas Mair was sentenced to prison for the rest of his life for the politically motivated murder, described by the Crown Prosecution Service as “nothing less than acts of terrorism designed to advance his twisted ideology”. While attacking Cox, who had two young children, Mair had shouted: “This is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent”, and “Britain first”.



