Campaigning ahead of Britain’s referendum on whether to leave the European Union resumed Sunday, following a three-day pause in the wake of the shock murder of British MP Jo Cox.
Worshipers paid tribute to the 41-year-old Labour MP Sunday at a service in her memory at St. Peter’s Church in Birstall, the northern English village where she was shot and stabbed Thursday — the first killing of a sitting British lawmaker since 1990.
The Rev. Paul Knight, who led the service at St. Peter’s, told CNN that those attending “rejoiced in what Jo was able to accomplish in her short time in Parliament.”
“She was a shining example of the way we … should work together,” he said.
He had delivered a sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan as an appropriate example of how people should help others, “whatever their creed,” as Cox — a former aid worker who had advocated for Syrian refugees and other causes — had done.
Cox had been a vocal supporter of Britain remaining in the EU. When the suspect in her killing, 52-year-old Tommy Mair, appeared in court charged with murder and other offenses Saturday, he said, “my name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”
Hopes for more less toxic rhetoric
Cox’s killing shocked the nation and brought a temporary halt to the bitter campaigning that has taken place for months leading up to Thursday’s national referendum.
Both the “Leave” and “Remain” campaigns resumed their official activities Sunday, with rival rallies scheduled in London.
A “Leave” rally is being held at Old Billingsgate, with MP and former London Mayor Boris Johnson, the campaign’s highest-profile profile advocate, scheduled to attend.
Across town, in Hyde Park, the organizers of a “Remain” rally plan to arrange attendees to spell out the word “In” for an aerial photograph. A minute’s silence will be observed in tribute to Cox at the event.
Observers are predicting both sides will strike a more measured tone as they make their case following Cox’s killing.
Joe Mulhall, research editor for anti-extremist advocacy group Hope Not Hate, told CNN that the debate over the issue had become “pretty toxic” prior to the pause.
With passions running high, MPs on both sides of the debate have been accused of lying and making up their arguments.
Mulhall said he hoped that the rhetoric would become “more elevated” once it resumed, but did not have “complete confidence in that.”
“Every time we thought it had got as bad as it could have, it’s gone and got worse,” he said.
Sister: ‘She will live on’
The services in Birstall are the latest in a series of tributes to Cox, who was raised in the nearby town of Heckmondwike.
Cox’s sister, Kim Leadbeater, made an emotional speech at a memorial in Birstall Saturday, telling those assembled that “our family is broken, but we will mend over time.”
“We will never let Jo leave our lives,” she said. “She will live on through all the good people in the world.”
