The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox today said political debate is even less tolerant than when she was killed by a right-wing extremist three years ago.
Speaking on the third anniversary of Labour MP Jo’s death, Kim Leadbeater said: “I think unfortunately things were pretty bad in 2016 when Jo was killed but I think it’s probably fair to say that they have got progressively worse.”
There was “a short period of time when politicians and other people said we have to do things differently in the aftermath of Jo’s murder”, before things went downhill again, she told Sky News.
Jo, 41, was shot and stabbed in her West Yorks constituency as she left a surgery a week before the EU referendum.
Far-right fanatic Thomas Mair was later jailed for life for her murder.
Police and MPs have issued repeated warnings in recent months about abuse of activists and elected politicians as Brexit continues to divide the country.
Kim said today: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with robust debate and passionate discussion; we live in a democracy in a country where I am so proud we can do those things.
“But actually we also need to treat each other with respect and civility and I think we’ve lost sight of that a little bit in recent times.”
