MP Jo Cox shot and killed

[OJsDad]

Not a lot of details yet.

[Boggit]

Not a lot of details yet.

Sorry for the cross posting - she was shot and stabbed...  I genuinely feel sad for her family. Murder is sadly too commonplace in our societies.

A gun was used, but our politicians and media can't obfuscate with a firearms ban. We already have one in the UK and it did not help her. :(

I posted in relation to the agenda for banning guns after the Orlando terrorist atrocity. There is a link to the media, although there are plenty of reports coming up on Bing, Google etc.

I'll also make this general point, about focusing the terrorism debate on a political agenda area, which really is incidental to the crime happening. Here in the UK full bore gun ownership is generally illegal (shotguns and some target weapons excepted), but it hasn't stopped gun violence. Gun violence is arguably more prevalent now than before when we could legally own full bore fire arms because of the relative availability of illegal weapons. Today, we had one of our own members of Parliament shot and stabbed, and as I say guns are mostly illegal in the UK. Sadly, it didn't prevent the MP getting shot. http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mp-jo-cox-dies-after-being-shot-and-stabbed/ar-AAh87zG?OCID=ansmsnnews11

[JasonPratt]

Off on other things but will register here for notifications, news, and commentary.  :'(

[Steelgrave]

Initial news reports make it sound like she was killed by a lone nut over her opposition to the Brexit. Is that what you guys are hearing locally?

[mirth]

Wtf?

[MetalDog]

Initial news reports make it sound like she was killed by a lone nut over her opposition to the Brexit. Is that what you guys are hearing locally?

That's what I heard, too, Steelie.  It's a terrible thing and my condolences to her family and those affected.

[Steelgrave]

I fear that we are going to see a lot more political violence before it gets better. Between Brexit and the U.S. Presidential election, we are seeing a lot of crazies come out of the woodwork. Sadly, over here it's being encouraged by one of our candidates. I know nothing of her politics but the politics of assassination is not something we want to return to.

[Gusington]

CNN reported earlier today that she got in the middle of a fight between two other men.

[Steelgrave]

CNN reported earlier today that she got in the middle of a fight between two other men.

Reports are still saying that the gunman shouted "Put Britain first" several times during the attack. Perhaps the altercation was between opposing sides of the Brexit debate and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[JasonPratt]

The Telegram/Argus article I read in the print newspaper today, kind of suggested that the killer was going after her and someone tried unsuccessfully to stop him with a struggle. Unclear if he may have knifed her, too, after shooting her several times, the last time in the head. The far-right Britain First activist group denounced the action.

[JudgeDredd]

Initial news reports make it sound like she was killed by a lone nut over her opposition to the Brexit. Is that what you guys are hearing locally?

I did not hear any reports of her "stepping into" anything...just that he saw her exit a library, ran towards her, shot her, stabbed her several times and shot her again.

I wouldn't like this to degenerate into a "brexit" or "remain" thing...she was killed by a nut - his motives, whatever he said at the time, were not "sane" - he was a nut.

So please - I know you all may just report what you hear - but it's a crying shame if this gets used either way in any political sense...she was killed by a nut.

As for "gun laws" - Boggit is absolutely right - we have very tight controls on gun ownership in the UK - but that doesn't mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that there aren't guns.

In fact, in relation to this murder - call it what it is - my wife said "How did he get a gun" to which my reply was "It's only law abiding citizens that are prevented from having guns in the UK...people not concerned about the law can get a hold of them quite easily".

[undercovergeek]

This is my home village, parked on the very spot 2 weeks ago - it's 300 yards from my parents house who never knew a thing until I phoned them yesterday!

It's such a sleepy old peoples place I can't believe anyone there actually owns a gun

I'm not labour and I'm not 'remain' but this woman seems to have been an exceptional person all round, only in parliament for 13 months but touched so many in her constituency and was tagged as a rising star - a genuine MP who wasn't in it for money or power, just to help people - a sad loss for her family, the town, parliament and I feel probably for the country

I'm not prone to the 'everyone feels sadness and shock' but my prayers are with her husband and 2 poor kids at home - it must be horrible for them

[bob48]

+1 Geek. Its very sad. Seems that the gun he used was a home-made weapon as well.

[Steelgrave]

This is my home village, parked on the very spot 2 weeks ago - it's 300 yards from my parents house who never knew a thing until I phoned them yesterday!

It's such a sleepy old peoples place I can't believe anyone there actually owns a gun

I'm not labour and I'm not 'remain' but this woman seems to have been an exceptional person all round, only in parliament for 13 months but touched so many in her constituency and was tagged as a rising star - a genuine MP who wasn't in it for money or power, just to help people - a sad loss for her family, the town, parliament and I feel probably for the country

I'm not prone to the 'everyone feels sadness and shock' but my prayers are with her husband and 2 poor kids at home - it must be horrible for them

I was nearby when our Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot. Luckily she survived. I never cared for her politics but this is not what you want to see happen. From what I've read, Cox sounds like she was one of the good ones, someone who believed in public service. This is a damn shame.

[Boggit]

+1 to JudgeDredd, Geek and Steelie.

I agree with all they are saying. I'll add one more consideration for you though, which has come out of this tragedy, and is not a good thing -

What I'm uncomfortable with is that the various parties to honour Jo Cox are publicly stating they will not contest the bye election triggered by her passing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3646602/The-election-Jo-Cox-s-seat-uncontested-tribute-public-service-former-Tory-chairman-Grant-Shapps-says.html
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-06-17/jo-coxs-seat-should-be-uncontested-in-upcoming-by-election/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jo-cox-death-conservatives-will-not-contest-murdered-labour-mp-seat-batley-spen-thomas-mair-a7087246.html

My thoughts are with the late Jo Cox and her family, but what has my sympathy and that of others got to do with Grant Shapps's ill considered decision, and subsequent ratification by Mr Cameron for Conservatives not to fight the Batley and Spen bye-election?

The death of this MP, and the circumstances surrounding it are sad, as she seems to have been a very caring person. However, it is normal on the death of an MP for there to be a bye election in the wider interest of our democracy. That the Conservatives have made this decision (granted followed by other parties) ignores the point that in a working democracy the constituents are entitled to a bye election. Declining to stand for the reasons given which really have no bearing on the election principle undermine the whole point of the election; that the procedure produces a representative in Parliament for the electorate from the voting process (even if that process is broken, in that relatively small percentages of the popular vote translates into large majorities in Parliament – Blair's 26% is a classic example, but Cameron's 36% is illustrative too).

Batley and Spen is not a Labour fief. It is not the property of the Labour party just because the previous incumbent was apparently a "nice" person who died tragically. It is a seat in Parliament. If the seat isn't contested Labour will in effect appoint someone to it, and a poor precedent for democracy will be set, with a candidate appointed without any democratic mandate. This is all very well with EU Commissioners (sic), but not for a member of Parliament. What the political class are saying, in effect, is that when a popular MP dies in tragic circumstances the political party to which they belong should be favoured by not being challenged on the election of the new MP. That is undemocratic and shows contempt for the electorate. It may be that Labour will win the election anyway, but if the national parties don't engage and contest the bye election it is turned it into a Labour fief, and they have decided that representation of the people is no longer important. Moreover, what democratic mandate will the new MP have other than being another nominated political appointee for the Labour party with dubious legitimacy... on the basis you can have anyone represent you so long as it is a Labour party appointee. Not very democratic is it?

What the parties are doing by not contesting the seat, to 'honour Jo Cox' is undermining democracy. There are plenty of other ways they can honour her memory, but denying the electorate a proper bye election is not the way to do it.