UK party leaders unite for Cox in joint tribute

LONDON

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared together on Friday to pay their respects to Labour MP Jo Cox, who lost her life in a shooting attack on Thursday.

Cameron and Corbyn, along with John Bercow, the House of Commons speaker, Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary and Leeds MP, came together in Bristall, Northern England outside Cox’s constituency, where she was shot and stabbed to death. The leaders laid flowers in her memory.

In a short speech, Cameron emphasized that the 41-year-old Labour MP was shot while “doing her job” and that it is crucial to keep MPs “available” to the public.

“The fact is that we should treasure and value our democracy, where members of Parliament are out in the public, accountable to the public, available to the public, and that’s how Jo died. She died doing her job," he stated.

Corbyn said what happened Thursday was a “tragedy beyond tragedy”.

"She was taken from us in an act of hatred, in a vile act that has killed her. It's an attack on democracy, what happened yesterday,” he said.

House Speaker John Bercow called the attack a “despicable and appalling act”.

"Evil cannot be allowed and will not be allowed to triumph over good," he added.

Corbyn also announced that Cameron and Bercow agreed to his request to recall Parliament on Monday to pay tribute to Cox.