Jo Cox’s sister issues warning ahead of tenth anniversary of murder: ‘Brexit made us see each other as enemies. We’ve never recovered’
Nearly a decade after Jo Cox’s death, Britain has still not recovered from the division fueled by the Brexit vote, the murdered MP’s sister has warned.
Kim Leadbeater issued the warning following scenes of violence across the UK, including Belfast, where rioters set fire to homes, a bus and cars and people were targeted based on their race.
In an interview with Independent Ahead of the 10th anniversary of Ms Cox’s murder, Ms Leadbeater said: “I think what we saw with Brexit was people being pushed into camps.
“People have been made to see people who disagree with them as their enemies rather than their neighbors, and I don’t think we’ve fully recovered from that.”
Ms Leadbeater, now a Labor MP, said she was still “very, very angry” about her brother’s death, but urged the country to remember Ms Cox’s poignant appeal that we have “more in common” than what divides us.
He said: “We have to continue to work hard to understand that you can disagree with someone on something. But that doesn’t mean you have to hate them.”
Ms Cox was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her constituency of Batley and Spen on June 16, 2016 – days before the EU referendum – in a murder that shocked the world.
Campaigning for the Brexit referendum has been temporarily suspended. Tributes poured in for the MP, with many highlighting the message he gave in his maiden speech to Parliament: “We are so much more together and have so much more in common than the things that divide us”.
Ms Leadbeater, who became an MP in 2021 and represents the same constituency in the House of Commons that her sister once held, said her sister’s rallying cry was not meant to avoid “passionate, hard-hitting political debate”. But it was possible to have them “without treating each other as enemies.” “Because our political opponents are not our enemies,” he said.
He also criticized those who “prey on people’s genuine fear and anxiety” following the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton and a horrific knife attack in Belfast in which victim Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye.
Reform England leader Nigel Farage has come under fire for calling for “pure cold anger” in response to Mr Novak’s death. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy also condemned US vice-president JD Vance, who claimed the “immigrant invasion” in Europe was to blame, despite Mr Nowak’s killer Vickrum Digwa being born and raised in Britain.
Ms Leadbeater said everyone in public office, including politicians, had a duty to act responsibly. He added: “Sometimes we don’t see it being done very well – whether by some people in this country or by some people in other countries.”
He added: “Especially if you have families who are openly saying ‘please don’t use what happened to our family as a way to divide people, because that’s not what we want to see.'” Both Mr. Nowak’s and Mr. Ogilvie’s families appealed for calm in the face of violent protests.
He said “that’s exactly what we did” after his sister was killed.
“It would be very easy for me to use the anger that I feel — and believe me, I am very, very angry about what happened to my life — to sow discrimination,” he added.
“I think we need to show a different path, and unfortunately, as I said, we don’t always see responsible behavior from some quarters – people who have a wide reach and a large audience.”
He said he has a policy: “I don’t name anyone when we talk about these things. I don’t think that’s very helpful. Some people want you to give them oxygen, and that’s not what I want to do.”
But he added: “I think it’s fair to say that there are some people and some individuals who know exactly what they’re doing and who are deliberately sowing division. But what they’re doing as part of that is preying on people’s real fears and concerns.”
Ms Leadbeater also expressed fears that the violence seen in Belfast and Southampton could spread this summer.
“We all have to think about what we want this summer to be like. And I want it to be full of the World Cup, barbecues, people going out and having a great time,” he said.
“I don’t want this summer to be full of people having their homes burned down, people wearing masks running through the streets, people setting things on fire and attacking police. I strongly advise everyone to choose the former rather than the latter.”
The Jo Cox Foundation is holding the Great Coming Together weekend from June 19-21 and says it will be a powerful way to remember its message 10 years on.
