The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox says she is ready to work “hand-in-hand” with ChronicleLive's ground-breaking Britain Talks project, to help bring the country back together.
“I believe the Great Get Together and Britain Talks can help heal some of the divisions that have scarred this country of late,” says Kim Leadbeater who stepped into public life in memory of her sister, the former Labour MP for Batley and Spen.
“I had hoped the reaction to Jo’s murder would lead to a more compassionate politics and stronger communities. Instead it feels like things have got worse. I refuse to give up that hope, however.”
Kim has written an article which will appear across all the Britain Talks partners, spanning the Brexit and political divide – the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and over 20 regional Reach PLC titles across England and Wales including the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and titles from Cornwall to Newcastle.
Britain Talks will match people willing to have a constructive conversation with someone with an opposing view for chats over tea and coffee over the weekend of June 23.
Your opportunity to get the North East talking again - whichever side of Brexit you sit on
This would also have been Jo Cox’s 45th birthday weekend – which will be marked by the Great Get Together, when street parties and events are held the length and breadth of the country remembering Jo’s belief that we have “more in common than that which divides us”.
To mark the collaboration, Britain Talks will join up with the GGTG in London, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Hull, Reading, with more towns and cities to be announced.
The theme of this year’s GGTG is ‘Let’s Get Back Together’ – after all the division and bitterness of the past three years.
Kim will tell campaigners the country is “sick and tired of division and keen to get back together”.
Catherine Anderson, CEO of the Jo Cox Foundation, will urge everybody in public life to work towards healing divisions rather than making them worse.
“Politics is all about strongly held views and rigorous debate and Jo never shied away from that,” she will say. “But it can and must be done in a way that shows respect for those we may disagree with and without seeking to widen divisions in society.
“Inflammatory language, threats and intimidation have no place in our public discourse. They represent the kind of politics Jo detested and everybody in public life has a responsibility to help take the poison out of our political culture.”
