Jo Cox was killed by a “well of hatred”, Jeremy Corbyn has said in an emotional tribute to the Labour MP in her constituency town of Birstall in West Yorkshire.

The Labour leader, appearing alongside David Cameron, also announced that parliament would be recalled on Monday to pay tribute to Cox “on behalf of everybody who values democracy, free speech and the right of political expression”.

Corbyn said: “She was taken from us in an act of hatred, in a vile act that has killed her. It is an attack on democracy what has happened today. It is the well of hatred that killed her.”

He spoke alongside the prime minister, and the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, as they laid flowers at the Priestley memorial near where Cox was shot and stabbed on Thursday.

Cameron said the nation was shocked. “The most profound thing that has happened is that two children have lost their mother, a loving husband has lost a loving wife, and parliament has lost one of its most passionate and brilliant campaigners, someone who epitomised the fact that politics is about serving others.”

He said it was time for the UK to think about the need to “treasure and value our democracy” and the fact that “members of parliament are out in the public, accountable to the public, available to the public, and that is how Jo died. She died doing her job.”





Facebook Twitter Pinterest People leave floral tributes to Cox in Market Square. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

In the wake of the Labour MP’s murder, the German chancellor urged British politicians to moderate the language used in their EU referendum campaigns.



“The exaggerations and radicalisation of part of the language do not help to foster an atmosphere of respect,” Angela Merkel said in response to a question about the killing. “That’s why we all value democratic game rules. And we know how important it is to draw limits, be it in the choice of speech, in the choice of the argument, but also in the choice of partly disparaging argument,” she said on Friday.

Merkel called for the beliefs of others to be respected. “Otherwise the radicalisation will become unstoppable.”

The Conservatives, Ukip and Liberal Democrats have said they will not contest the seat of Batley and Spen out of respect for Cox.



It has emerged that the 41-year-old mother of two was so concerned about the harassment she faced as an MP that she called in police three months ago. A man was arrested and cautioned when Cox alleged malicious communication. He was not the man being held over her killing.



The former aid worker was killed by a man who witnesses said shouted “Britain first” during the attack. A constituent named locally as Thomas Mair was arrested and remains in custody.

Cox has been widely praised for her work in parliament for refugees, particularly those from Syria.

According to US sources, Mair bought books from a US-based neo-Nazi group, the National Alliance, including guides on how to build homemade guns and explosives.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a US civil rights organisation, said he bought guides on the “chemistry of powder & explosives” and “incendiaries” and a handbook with instructions on constructing a pipe pistol using parts available in DIY stores.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jo Cox was the Labour MP for Batley and Spen. Photograph: Rex//Shutterstock

Cox had been an MP since May last year and was elected with a majority of 6,000, with the Conservatives her nearest rival. The party leaders appeared in Birstall after campaigning was suspended on the EU referendum for the rest of the working week.

On Friday, as flags were lowered to half-mast on Buckingham Palace, as well as the palaces of Westminster and Holyroodhouse, MPs were urgently reviewing their personal security.

Some MPs were in their constituencies holding surgeries, having decided to proceed as normal.

Dan Jarvis, the Labour MP for Barnsley Central, said: “I know MPs are scared. We’ll be reviewing our security, but I’ll walk through Barnsley today like every Friday.”

Jonathan Reynolds, the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said: “I plan to keep to all my engagements today, including my surgery. I will ensure there is security present, however.”

Others, however, cancelled their surgeries amid safety concerns. The Labour MP Rachel Reeves said: “The work of an MP in our surgeries, our work in the community, must continue but I think it’s right today that, as well as ceasing the campaigning in the referendum, we close our office.”

In an example of the kind of abuse many MPs receive, Devon and Cornwall police said a man has been charged by police over an abusive phone call made to the Westminster office of the Labour MP for Exeter, Ben Bradshaw.

Stephen Timms, the Labour MP who was stabbed by a constituent at his surgery in 2010, said the ability of people to see their MP in the street or in constituency surgeries was “a really, really important part of how we do things”.

He said: “We will have to ask ourselves questions but we will have to make sure we don’t throw away the really valuable openness that is a vital feature of the democracy we have in Britain.”

In Birstall, the Dewsbury MP, Paula Sherriff, the Manchester Withington MP, Jeff Smith, and the Manchester Central MP, Lucy Powell, left bouquets of red roses among the growing floral tributes at the Priestley memorial.

Speaking to the BBC, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock was on the verge of tears as he described Cox as “a woman of huge intelligence, sparkling”.



The US secretary of state, John Kerry, said the murder was “an assault on everybody who cares about and has faith in democracy”.

Social media users rallied behind the #ThankYourMP hashtag which the Labour MP Clive Lewis said was “a genuinely humbling sentiment, reminding us how humanity has the ability to turn tragedy into a source of strength”.

Senior Labour sources have said the party had called for better protection for MPs during surgeries. Harry Fletcher, who advises parliamentarians on handling online abuse, said the Commons security authorities needed to create a triage system to quickly assess the nature of the risk MPs faced after receiving online threats.