Theresa May has evoked the memory of Jo Cox in her New Year message, signing off the year by reminding Britons they have "far more in common than that which divides us".

The Prime Minister pledged to make 2017 the year of "unity and opportunity" as she urged people to put the divisive referendum behind them, and said all Britons were united in wanting a safe, secure and fairer country.

"These ambitions unite us, so that we are no longer the 52% who voted Leave and the 48% who voted Remain, but one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future," she said.

"As the fantastic MP Jo Cox, who was so tragically taken from us last year, put it: 'We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.'"

Bridging the political divide, Mrs May also sought to reassure those who voted to Remain in the EU that she would endeavour to represent them too in her Brexit negotiations.


She said: "When I sit around the negotiating table in Europe this year, it will be with that in mind - the knowledge that I am there to get the right deal, not just for those who voted to Leave but for every single person in this country."

Image: Jo Cox was murdered in June, just days before the Brexit referendum

Mrs May's New Year Message is similar to her Christmas message days earlier, when she called on the country to come together after the EU referendum.

However, the Prime Minister is likely to face a torrid start to 2017 over Brexit.

In January, the Supreme Court will decide whether No 10 has to lay down new legislation to trigger formal exit negotiations, which in turn could set the scene for a big parliamentary battle over her Brexit plans.

Aside from Brexit negotiations, the Prime Minister also hinted at a more activist domestic agenda in 2017.

"We have made a momentous decision and set ourselves on a new direction. And if 2016 was the year you voted for that change, this is the year we start to make it happen," she said.

The party leaders deliver their Christmas messages

On the domestic front, No 10 will publish its plan for a new industrial strategy for the UK in January in an effort to boost economic growth, while also publishing a green paper on housing as ministers look to answer voters' concerns over chronic housing shortages across the UK.

Mrs May's tribute to Mrs Cox comes days after her bereaved husband Brendan Cox delivered a Christmas message, calling for an end to the "rise in hatred".

Broadcast on Channel 4 on Christmas Day, Mr Cox told viewers that now is the "moment to reach out to somebody that might disagree with us".

The 41-year-old MP, who was mother to two young children, was shot and stabbed to death by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency days before June's EU referendum.