Newspaper headlines: Jo Cox killing, Cliff Richard cleared and England's 'great escape' By Alex Kleiderman

BBC News Published duration 17 June 2016

"Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy and a zest for life that would exhaust most people."

The tribute to Labour MP Jo Cox from her husband Brendan becomes a headline in Friday's papers as they report the death of the 41-year-old, who was stabbed and shot in the street in her West Yorkshire constituency.

image copyright PA

The mother-of-two was attacked near the library in Birstall, where she was holding a surgery, by a man who witnesses heard shout "Britain first".

Mrs Cox was a supporter of the Remain campaign in the EU referendum and had called for more Syrian refugees to be given safe haven, and the Daily Mail reports police are investigating the possibility the attack was motivated by her political views.

"How absolutely incomprehensible that a woman so full of life... could be dead. How impossible that a former aid worker who had survived multiple war zones should die so brutally outside a Yorkshire library," she says.

The Financial Times says in a world of growing scepticism about the political classes Mrs Cox, MP for Batley and Spen since the May 2015 general election, "stood out for her years of unblemished altruism".

Polly Toynbee reaches a similar conclusion in the Guardian . "This attack on a public official cannot be viewed in isolation. It occurs against a backdrop of an ugly public mood in which we have been told to despise the political class, to distrust those who serve," she says.

The paper's front page features a photograph of the late MP outside Parliament and the headline "Mum. 'Proud Yorkshire lass'. MP. Shot dead while serving the people".

'Assault on democracy'

There is no known link between the attack and the messages, says the paper, but it notes the killing also comes less than a year after a number of women MPs raised fears about their safety.

In a leading article, the Times says: "Whatever led to this terrible crime, its context is a new and vicious mood of public discourse that can quickly turn extreme, especially on social media."

image copyright Reuters

The Daily Express says "the accessibility of our politicians is one of the great things about our democracy. That the essential trust between elector and elected has been breached makes this awful event all the more tragic".

What the commentators say...

media caption Guardian deputy editor Paul Johnson and Tim Collins, managing director of Bell Pottinger communications agency and a former Conservative MP, join the BBC News Channel to review Friday's front pages

'Flimsy evidence'

The decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to take no further action against Sir Cliff Richard over allegations of historical sex abuse prompted the singer to issue a strong-worded statement. And the leader writers agree there are questions over the handling of a case which had been hanging over the star for nearly two years.

image copyright Getty Images

The Daily Mail calls the case one of the most "unedifying episodes in British justice" and remains critical of the police action - and the BBC's decision to film their initial raid on the singer's Berkshire home.

"Officers must investigate sexual abuse without fear or favour. But the lengthy delays in this case, and the torrent of publicity with which it began, leave a bitter taste," it adds.

The Daily Telegraph says Sir Cliff is right to call for a complete review of procedures . "This needs to cover not just the police but the prosecutors and the issue of search warrants by the judiciary."

The Daily Mirror examines whether people accused of sex offences offences should be granted anonymity before conviction . Celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman says they should as the "stigma" of being questioned remains for life, but Mirror columnist Alison Phillips warns against shrouding the justice system in secrecy.

'Last-gasp winner'

"St George slays dragons," is its headline.

image copyright AP

"Bottom of Group B as the half-time team talks were conducted, England ended the day on top with four points," says the paper's chief football correspondent Jason Burt.

And it was also a memorable day for Northern Ireland who are hailed by the Daily Star as the "Kings of Lyon" after a 2-0 victory over Ukraine gives them a chance to qualify from Group C for the knockout stage and a possible meeting with England.

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