The killing of MP Jo Cox has put referendum bile on hold

The Westminster week began like any other in the run-up to a big political event.

Both sides in an increasingly vitriolic EU referendum campaign were in “full steam ahead” mode, desperate to capitalise on the final days left to convince voters.

The Chancellor warned of an emergency post-Brexit budget full of tax rises and spending cuts and, in a bizarre twist, there was a nautical stand-off on the River Thames.

And then an MP was brutally killed on a West Yorkshire street.

Jo Cox was kicked, stabbed and shot yards from where she had been doing her job, helping constituents at an advice surgery.

Immediately the juggernauts ground to a halt and the clamour fell silent. Campaigning was suspended until yesterday as a mark of respect. Surely it was also a moment to take stock and gain a sense of perspective?

For how futile does the rhetoric now seem?

I did not know the Batley and Spen MP personally, but she had made a big impression on me nonetheless and undoubtedly a huge impact during her all-too-short time in parliament.

Watching from the press gallery, many of the new – and indeed longstanding – MPs go unnoticed.

But there are some who catch your eye – and from her maiden speech onwards, Ms Cox was one of them.

The mother-of-two regularly stood out, especially for her compassionate interventions on the Syrian refugee crisis.

David Cameron was not exaggerating when he described the Labour MP, elected last year, as a “great star”.

Not surprisingly the tributes poured in from around the world, but the most moving came from Ms Cox’s husband Brendan, who bravely insisted in the hours after her senseless death that she would want everyone to unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.

Some eyewitnesses recalled the alleged gunman crying out “Britain first” or “put Britain first”, although others said they heard nothing.

Reports also emerged the MP had intervened to break up a fight.

We cannot yet be sure whether or not the attack was politically motivated or if it had anything to do with her pro-EU stance and it is unhelpful to speculate.

Irrespective of the why, however, the tragic incident does bring the issue of MPs’ security when they are outside the protective walls of Westminster back into sharp focus.

Ms Cox was the first sitting MP to be killed since 1990 when Ian Gow died in an IRA car bomb and the first female MP ever to have been killed in Britain.

But it has emerged she had made a complaint to police about malicious messages involving a different man earlier this year and there are other shocking examples of recent violence against politicians.

An MP’s job – first and foremost – is to serve their constituents and represent them in parliament.

That is at the very heart of our democracy and remains the case however high a politician climbs – even senior government ministers hold surgeries.

Without them the connection between the MP and those they represent would be broken and, by extension, the system itself.

So the questions arise: How safe are our politicians? How do they carry out their job without risking their lives? How do we protect them without undermining our democracy?

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

London MP Stephen Timms, who survived a stabbing at a routine surgery in 2010, asked: “Frankly, what can you do?”

MPs were reportedly advised by party whips in the wake of the attack on Ms Cox to contact police to review their security arrangements.

But metal detectors in surgeries, for instance, wouldn’t guarantee safety, and neither would they be conducive to an atmosphere of trust.

Perhaps all MPs can do is carry on as normal and many defiantly went ahead with surgeries on Friday.

My guess is Ms Cox would have approved of their response.

But as the EU campaign machines rev back into action this week – they inevitably must – let’s hope the contest assumes a more respectful tone.

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