‘Unity not division’

Last week the right-wing terrorist who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox was given a whole life sentence.

White supremacist Thomas Mair stabbed and shot Cox in Birstall, a town in West Yorkshire that was part of her Batley and Spen constituency, on June 16 during the run up to the EU referendum. During the attack Mair, who resented immigration, said “this is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent” and “Britain first”, the court was told.

Although privately prosecutors acknowledged that the highly-wrought atmosphere during the EU referendum campaign was certain to have been a factor in Mair’s decision to murder Cox, they did not mention it in court because jurors were asked to consider whether Mair committed the murder and not about his possible motivations.

Cox, the mother of two young children, was a respected MP renowned for her compassion and dedication to equal rights and social justice. During the trial it emerged that while Cox was being shot and stabbed she told her staff to “get away, let him hurt me, not you”.

Addressing the court after the verdict was announced, Cox’s husband, Brendan described the 41-year-old’s killing as a “political act, an act of terrorism” that had failed in its purpose.

He said, “Jo is no longer with us, but her love, her example and her values live on. For the rest of our lives we will not lament how unlucky we were to have her taken from us, but how unbelievably lucky we were to have her in our lives for so long.”

More in common

After Cox’s murder the anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate launched the “More in Common” campaign – named after Cox’s maiden speech to parliament – to help tackle the shocking rise in hate crime that arose after the Brexit vote.

Hope Not Hate chief executive, Nick Lowles, said the rise in hate crimes did not reflect an increase in the number of active racists in Britain, but rather that the inflammatory rhetoric used during the debate had emboldened those racists to act and express themselves publicly.

This was reflected in the more than 50,000 celebratory tweets sent in the month after Cox’s murder. The tweets, which came from 25,000 separate accounts, used words such as “hero” and “patriot” to describe Mair and “traitor’ to describe Cox, according to a report conducted by Imran Awan from Birmingham City University and Nottingham Trent University’s Irene Zempi.

The report’s authors said there was a link between racist and hateful digital rhetoric and on street hate crime, with online hate preachers spurred on by “trigger” events such as the EU referendum.

As well as calling for social media companies to do more to police online hate speech, Lowles said, “Mair acted alone but he was inspired by over 30 years of reading Nazi propaganda. Clearly there were those on social media and other digital platforms who sought to exploit and profit from his disgusting actions, and the tensions also arising from the referendum process, to spread their vile beliefs.”

In the face of rising extreme right-wing actions and speech – seen not just in Britain but also in the movements surrounding Marine Le Pen in France and Donald Trump in America – it is more important than ever that trade unionists support efforts to counter hate and promote equality for all, said Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland.

That’s why Unite is backing Labour’s Jo Cox Women in Leadership programme, set to train the next generation of women leaders who will carry forward the progressive and inclusive values so dearly held by the late Batley and Spen MP.

Holland said, “As trade unionists our message is clear: We want unity not devision, solidarity not hatred and equality not discrimination. We all need to pledge our continuing opposition to all those forces that seek to scapegoat, blame and divide. As we remember the inspiring life of Jo Cox MP, the new Women in Leadership programme set up in her memory is a very fitting legacy.”