On the seventh anniversary of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox’s death, her sister stated that politicians must take responsibility for the ‘toxic’ debating culture in Britain.
Ms. Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed on June 16, 2016, in a street in Birstall, a town in West Yorkshire that is a part of her Batley and Spen district.
Kim Leadbeater, who represented Labour and regained the same seat in 2021, voiced concern that the political climate will continue to be “very toxic” and characterised by “huge amounts of anger and division.”
Ms Leadbeater, 47, urged fellow parliamentarians not to waste time launching personal attacks on each other.
It takes just one person ‘caught up in that toxic culture’ for a life to be ‘lost forever’, she said.
‘When MPs behave badly it reflects badly on us all and it has a negative impact on democracy as a whole, and that is worrying,’ she told the i newspaper.
‘Whenever there are stories about MPs abusing the privilege they have, I find it deeply disturbing and upsetting in terms of the impact it has on democracy.
‘There are some individuals who have to take responsibility for that and my worry is that it makes people involved in politics want to leave – decent people leaving.’
Ms Leadbeater spoke out hours after disgraced former prime minister, Boris Johnson, was branded a liar and a lawbreaker in the long-awaited Privileges Committee report.
Mr Johnson was found to have deliberately misled parliament over Downing Street parties during the Covid lockdown.
Ms Leadbeater also said MPs need to do more to use security measures available.
Earlier this year, Metro.co.uk exclusively reported how more than a dozen cases of malicious communications were reported to police by the House of Commons’ security team last year.
‘Part of the blame lies with MPs themselves,’ Ms Leadbeater said.
‘You have essentially 650 self-employed people who have different attitudes to safety and risk.
‘I think some MPs fully engage and others don’t. And you have everything in between.’
She added: ‘I think sadly in terms of the political environment, things are still very toxic.
‘There are huge amounts of division, there’s huge amounts of anger, and that worries me.
‘The responsibility that we have as parliamentarians is to try and create a culture that is less divisive and presents us as parliamentarians and indeed the whole political system in a positive way.
‘I find it upsetting that not all MPs do this.
‘We have to look at the role MPs play themselves and how we conduct ourselves’, she told the i.
Ms Cox, a mother-of-two, was killed by far-right extremist Thomas Mair days before the Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016.
Five years later, long serving Conservative MP and prominent Brexiteer Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed in his Southend West constituency on October 15, 2021.
Today Ms Cox’s husband, Brendan and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer led tributes ahead of 400 events across the country planned this weekend in her memory.
The Jo Cox Foundation, set up in the wake of her tragic death, is hosting the annual Great Get Together to spread her message that we all have #MoreInCommon.
Mr Cox posted on Twitter: ‘Another year passes since we lost Jo – but her memory doesn’t fade. It sharpens.
‘Tonight we will all be together to celebrate her life and the legacy she has left.’
Sir Keir wrote: ‘Today, I’m thinking of my friend and colleague Jo Cox.
‘It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since that terrible day.
‘But her legacy and her dream of a better world still live on.
‘We miss you, Jo’,’ he added.