A year ago on Saturday, in the midst of the Brexit referendum campaign, Joanne Cox, the Labour MP for the Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen, was murdered on the street by Thomas Mair, a far-right extremist who shouted “Britain first” as he shot and stabbed her. Her murder shocked the nation, and briefly paused the frenzied campaigning by both sides on the referendum, highlighting to some the dangerously highly level of emotions that cut through the debate. Cox was an enthusiastic Remain campaigner, who wrote a piece extolling the benefits of EU membership and immigration to Britain shortly before her murder. From the outset, her death and the difficult year that followed and her husband’s appeal for unity in the fight against the hatred that had killed her could have been a wake-up call to bring the country back together.

However, 2017 has proved a challenging year for the country: stark divisions over Brexit remained, with those who supported the Remain camp contemptuously dubbed “remoaners” by Britain’s right-wing press. Chilling threats, invoking the death of Cox, have been made to a number of British politicians, including the outspoken Conservative MP Anna Soubry. Gina Miller, the financier who took the government to court over getting Parliament a say over Brexit, has faced death threats and abuse. Hate crimes have increased across the country.

Ideological differences

The recent election campaign has done little to reduce the divisions. While the referendum revealed divisions across the country based on geographical and age lines, the electoral campaign presented the country with hugely differing ideological perspectives on where it could head. Making things even more complex have been the three terrorist attacks that have taken place since April.

While the vigils that took place in the wake of the terror attacks offered people an opportunity to stand together, a more joyous occasion has been taking place this week. The foundation set up in Cox’s name has called for celebratory events across the country, dubbed the “Great Get Together” and united by the words of Cox’s first speech to Parliament: “We are far more united and have more in common than that which divides us.”

Some 100,000 events are taking place from picnics to street parties and barbeques, involving groups across the political spectrum from the more conservative Countryside Alliance to Amnesty International. Schools have been encouraged to participate, as have religious organisations. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 ahead of the events, Mr. Cox highlighted the role that his wife’s death had had in uniting her constituency community, in contrast to her murderer’s attempt to create divisions, and said he hoped the gatherings would help to do the same across the country.

While street parties are not a new thing in England, the Great Get Together appeals to a much broader section of society and in a way seeks to bring together people across communities, and celebrate the country’s multiculturalism. Its marketing is notably devoid of any reference to nationalist symbols such as flags (English, the Union Jack or otherwise). Among those campaigning for it are people who’ve lost family to terrorist attacks. The message to the country is to avoid the temptation to give into hate. Urging people to take part, chef Jamie Oliver reminded the country of the diversity of its food, a “melting pot of different influences, old traditional and new additions,” drawing on the country’s history of immigration and invasion, pointing to the Jewish origins of fish and chips and the Goan and Portuegese origins of Vindaloo.

Vidya Ram writes for The Hindu and is based in London.