Updated 1.25pm
MP JO COX has been remembered at church services in her constituency of Bristall, where she grew up, today.
The services took place at St Peter’s Church in the Yorkshire town, with the BBC reporting that Reverend Paul Knight described Cox as “a fervent advocate for the poor and oppressed” and “a 21st Century Good Samaritan”.
Meanwhile, an online fundraiser for Jo Cox has raised over half a million pounds in just two days.
The Go Fund Me page, set up by the British Labour MP’s friends and family, has seen over 20,000 people donate over £614,000 since it was set up on 17 June.
This means that the campaign has been “the largest and fastest growing” in GoFundMe’s history, according to the site’s vice president of communications, Dan Pfeiffer.
Cox was stabbed and shot in an incident in her constituency of Batley and Spen in Yorkshire.
The attack took place after Cox held an advice clinic at a library in Birstall, Yorkshire.
The GoFundMe site was set up to raise money for three different charities close to the MP’s heart: The Royal Voluntary Service, HOPE Not Hate, and The White Helmets.
Her husband Brendan Cox said:
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. She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.
The organisers of the GoFundMe campaign thanked supporters for their generosity, writing:
We are deeply humbled by the incredible wave of support this page has received. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, shared and mentioned this fund to friends, it is truly astounding to feel this level of solidarity and love for Jo and the values she stood for.
Tributes have been paid worldwide to Jo Cox since her death. The Labour MP was elected in 2015 and lived in a houseboat on the Thames with her husband and two small children.
An activist and former Oxfam employee, she raised issues such as immigration and the Syrian crisis in the House of Commons. She had been campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.
The White House said that President Barack Obama praised Cox’s “selfless service”, and that he had called Brendan Cox while travelling on the Air Force One presidential plane.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn united to lay bouquets at a floral tribute to the slain MP in Birstall.
A vigil in memory of Jo Cox was held in Dublin on Friday.
“Death to traitors, freedom for Britain”
The man charged with Jo Cox’s killing, Thomas Mair, appeared in court briefly yesterday. When asked to give his name, he said: “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”
He was remanded in custody until his next appearance at London’s Old Bailey central criminal court tomorrow. A psychiatric report has been requested.
Mair, who is from Birstall, was arrested on Thursday close to the scene of the attack.
He has been charged with murder, grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon.
Comments have been closed on this article as a man has been charged with Jo Cox’s killing.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say