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TEARFUL MOURNERS LAID flowers outside the British parliament last night in memory of pro-EU lawmaker Jo Cox, hours after she was killed in a shock attack at a meeting with constituents.
Dozens of people gathered next to a large picture of the 41-year-old former charity worker, who had campaigned in favour of Britain’s membership of the European Union ahead of next week’s Brexit vote.
“What’s happened is beyond appalling. We are here in silent memory of her loss,” Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Cox’s centre-left Labour party, said at the event.
“This is a shocking occasion and I hope everybody realises hatred will never solve problems. Only people coming together will solve problems,” he said.
Corbyn was flanked by fellow members of the Labour party, many of them shaking and tearful, as they lit candles and one by one laid them beside the photograph of a smiling Cox.
“We are suspending all campaigning activities until the weekend as a mark of respect for her,” Corbyn said, referring to the tense run-up to Britain’s EU membership referendum on 23 June.
Mourners left heaps of flowers in the lawmaker’s memory, who was the first British MP to be killed in office since Ian Gow was killed by a car bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army in 1990.
She was left bleeding on the pavement after reportedly being shot and stabbed in the village of Birstall in northern England, according to witnesses quoted by media.
An eyewitness told the Manchester Evening News that a man shouted “Britain First” as he started the attack.
A 52-year-old man, named as Thomas Mair, has since been arrested and police say they are not looking for anybody else in relation to the incident.
‘United against hatred’
Fatima Ibrahim, a 23-year-old campaigner with human rights group Avaaz, which helped organise the vigil, told AFP she was “devastated”.
She was a fearless campaigner, and a voice for the voiceless. We feel shaken by her loss, but committed to meeting the hatred that killed her with love.
“We feel shaken by her loss,” she added.
Cox worked for charity group Oxfam before becoming a lawmaker in 2015, and several at the vigil recalled her tireless campaigning to help refugees from Syria.
Mike, a 55-year-old who works in the charity sector but who did not want to give his surname, described Cox as “someone who was utterly dedicated to the ideals of peace, love, justice on a global scale as well as in the UK”.
It is shocking. This kind of thing does not happen.
Activists set up a white placard reading ‘We carry the banner of love for Jo’ and invited others to add messages to it in coloured pens.
Tributes included ‘You can’t kill democracy’ and ‘Thank you for all you did for Syria, for humanity. We will unite against hatred.’
Another message listed Britain’s main political parties, and insisted that for one day at least the country was not divided by the two sides of the EU referendum.
“We are not Remain, Leave, Tory, Labour or Lib Dem tonight. We are Britons with a belief in parliament and democracy,” the message read.
In Birstall, a village of around 16,000 residents where eyewitnesses told British media they saw her being gunned down, mourners laid flowers at the foot of a statue.
Hundreds also gathered to pray at the local St Peter’s church.
We can’t police our streets as it is at the moment. How on earth are they going to police public transport? We need an American style type of policing, three strikes and you’re done. We also need our judiciary system to up their game and hand down harder penalties and to stick to them. That way our streets and transport will be more safer.
@Brian k.: the jails are full and they haven’t opened a new one since 1989. No point in increasing police numbers until that is sorted.
@Brian k.: We absolutely do NOT need the American model of anything, especially policing. It’s been shown time and time and time again to be biased and ineffective. All it does is increase the numbers of disadvantaged people in the prison-industrial complex, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do. Updated slavery by another name. We’re better than that
@Brian k.: three strikes is proven not to be a deterrent and is proven to increase violence among offenders. It doesn’t work.
@Paul C: We have to start somewhere. Currently we have repeat offenders with 100+ convictions and no sign of them reforming.
@John Fahy: The midlands prison opened in 2000. I agree with your point that more prison space is urgently needed.
@John Fahy: start executing some of the serial offenders with 500 previous convictions would soon clear out the prisons. No loss to society.
@Brian k.: What’s your goal, to punish those who commit crime or reduce crime overall? If it’s the latter, the US model has shown harsher sentences and prison conditions don’t achieve this
@Brian k.: American style policing, what just shoot everybody who you perceive as a threat. Believe you me American style policing is the last thing we need in this country.
@Brian k.: imagine a public transport police somewhere in another Eu country. Crazy how Ireland is being crazily mismanaged by the government and how baffling how there is absolutely 0 accountability for it.
@Brian k.: are you going to pay the massive tax hike to facilitate the building of more prisons, courts, and hiring of more staff at every level of the justice system to facilitate this? America is more dangerous than it’s ever been and mass incarceration is not a deterrent.
@John Fahy: exactly, and worse part is that over 20million Euro was spent buying a site for a prison and it’s costing thousands more to secure it now and not a block or foundation dug..
@John Fahy: That’s correct. We need a lot more prisons to be built.
@Dave G Doe: very good point!
@John Fahy: Helen mcentee was looking at potential a few years ago. Nothing happened, no surprise there then.
@Paul C: Woke people believe that if they say something, then it is so!
Only one way for the Government to take back control of our streets and that is to hit offenders where it hurts.
Take away their freedom and hit them in the pocket by making deductions from bank accounts or social welfare payments to ensure that fines are paid.
Start by sacking every judges in the country. Most of them haven’t a clue. Giving out suspended sentences for paedophiles like it’s no bother at all
@reg morrisey:
Judge Nolan should be up the first one there.
If they were serious about tackling crime and marking those responsible accountable then hit offenders in the pocket. Increase court fines and take it from their dole (yes most offenders do not work!) and not in lots of small instalments. If they’re fined €500, take €50 a week for 10 weeks. If teenage thugs under 18 are convicted, take it from their parents children’s allowance. Nothing else works, there are no prison places and community service etc doesn’t work. Mandatory fines taken from your pay for dole will make many of them think twice before committing crimes.
Once they keep the Luas Green for members of better stock and no North or West Side Skangers on it.
Eight thousand soldiers sitting on their holes, why not use them, the French do
Like everything in Ireland I don’t think any of the 4 .5 % reduction will be seen by the consumer…
Ah I see the usual sock puppets are heavily active on this thread cheering each other on with their usual hang’em high cow feces
How about we focus on actually sentencing people properly first? There’s no point hiring “transport police” when we can’t even police the main streets in the city centre. Even if we did hire these “transport release”, unless we fix our sentencing laws it’s still just going to be more catch and release for the criminals. There is no reason why the Dáil can’t pass a bill which mandates that the government has to build at least 5 new prisons in the next 10 years on state-owned land. We also need to introduce mandatory minimums for all crimes and make sure that a life sentence means exactly that – a life sentence. You’re not released after 18 years and no chance of getting early parole. We also need a three-strikes rule with a minimum 25 year sentence for those who break it.
Lol! So a new ‘Dublin’ police force then?
The NTA and TFI are not fit for purpose, bring back the carriage office and let them police all public transport services including taxis, the amount of illegal/undocumented taxis on the road is unbelievable
Gardai can’t cope with current level of antisocial behaviour. Judicial system is broken with repeat offenders having no incentive to desist.
Now a new type of garda with different level of authority and can only operate in certain environments and likely will have to hand over detainee to a garda anyway. Recipie for inefficiency.
Will believe it when l see it
If men were just men again it be grand. Telling ye, a few pud mouths wrecking my head and illnjust drag them off at the next stop. I was born in the 90s but I know this was how it was done in the 70s
would they fine their recurrent traffic offenders and report those rude drivers who deliberately miss their bus stops ?
…
Can’t recruit gardai naval personal army airport and now they want transport police lol
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