Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said the EU referendum campaign was ‘one of the most divisive periods’ in modern history, and urged the public to reject surging polarisation
Labour MP, Jo Cox, was murdered in 2016 by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair (Image: PA)
The sister of MP Jo Cox has warned the dark forces of division could be stronger than ever a decade on from her murder.
Kim Leadbeater said the EU referendum campaign was “one of the most divisive periods” in modern history, where fear was weaponised and anger became political currency. She appealed to the public to reject surging polarisation and hate, which carry grim echoes of the climate when her sister was killed.
Ms Cox was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16 2016, days before the EU referendum. Ahead of the 10th anniversary of her death, Ms Leadbeater said it would be wrong to blame Brexit for her sister’s murder. “One individual committed that heinous crime, a far-right neo-Nazi whose evil act was his and his alone,” she said. “But things don’t happen in a vacuum.”
Kim Leadbeater with her sister Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016
Delivering the Jo Cox memorial lecture at Pembroke College, Cambridge, she said: “If we refuse to examine the environment of anger and polarisation that surrounded [Jo’s murder], then we fail both her memory and our democracy. And sadly, a decade later, many of the same forces are still with us. Perhaps even stronger.
“Today, polarisation dominates public life. Across politics, media, and online platforms, people are increasingly pushed into opposing camps. Nuance disappears and every issue becomes a battle. Every disagreement becomes moral warfare.”
The Spen Valley MP said her sister was “one of the nicest people you could hope to meet” and her death had horrified people around the world. “She was a politician, but she was first and foremost a passionate humanitarian – and a realist at the same time – always looking for solutions that were practical and achievable – and ways to bring people together, not drive them apart,” she said.
Ms Leadbeater urged people to remember that “hatred grows when good people become indifferent to division”. She said: “The answer to polarisation cannot be more polarisation. The answer to fear cannot be more fear. The answer must be courage.
“The courage to listen. The courage to speak responsibly. The courage to reject extremism. The courage to defend democratic values even when emotions run high. And most importantly, the courage to remember that we belong to one another.
“Do we want a society defined by outrage and suspicion? Or one defined by compassion and solidarity? Do we want future generations to inherit division? Or do we want them to inherit hope? The choice is ours.
“And perhaps the greatest tribute we can offer Jo is not merely to repeat her words, but to live by them, and show that we really are “far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”
Her speech comes at a moment of soaring tensions in the wake of the murder of student Henry Nowak, whose killer falsely claimed to be the victim of a racial assault. Bodycam footage showing the 18-year-old pleading with police, who handcuffed him as he lay dying, has shocked the nation.
Mr Nowak’s father Mark, speaking after killer Vickrum Digwa was sentenced last week, said: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”
Despite the family’s pleas, Nigel Farage said the public should feel “pure, cold rage” about the case, hours before violent protests erupted near where Henry was fatally stabbed in Southampton.
US vice president JD Vance also weighed in and sought to falsely link it to “the mass invasion of migrants”. Downing Street hit back at Mr Vance, with a statement condemning “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets”.
