Division in UK probably worse now than before Brexit, says Kim Leadbeater
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, says political hatred and division in the UK is likely greater now than during the Brexit referendum when Cox was killed.
Political hatred and division in the UK are probably worse now than during the Brexit referendum when Jo Cox was murdered, according to her sister Kim Leadbeater, who is also a Labour MP.
Speaking to the Guardian's Today in Focus podcast, Leadbeater, who won the same Yorkshire seat in a 2021 byelection, said everyone in public life had a responsibility to try and ease tensions. She referenced the response of some politicians after the murder of Henry Nowak, which led to disorder in Southampton. Leadbeater argued that those calling for division are "in the minority" but very vocal, and others have a duty to "drown them out and tell the good stories of this country".
Marking the 10th anniversary of Cox's murder by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair on 16 June 2016, Leadbeater recalled that after her sister's death there was a short period where people said all the right things about compassion and understanding, but it was short-lived. "Sadly and regrettably, I think over the last decade, things are worse," she said.
Leadbeater said the responsibility for change lies with everyone, including politicians and people in public office. She cited the murder of Henry Nowak and his family's plea not to use the killing to divide communities. "It is unbelievably painful, but you do not want to see more anger and more hatred on top of what you're already going through," she added.
Cox was 41 when she was fatally shot and stabbed by Mair before a constituency surgery. Leadbeater described receiving the news: she was collecting her car and instinctively knew something was wrong. She had not been involved in politics before, but after Cox's replacement Tracy Brabin stepped down, Leadbeater was persuaded to stand and won the byelection.
The foundation set up in Cox's name campaigns against loneliness, and Leadbeater noted the importance of the intersection between extremism and loneliness. But she cautioned against reducing Cox's murder to an isolated act, saying it would misunderstand the context and the extremist views of the killer.
