General Election Campaign Paused To Remember MP Jo Cox

Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and other party leaders are stopping campaigning to honour the mother-of-two who was murdered last June.

Her widower Brendan Cox said it would "send a powerful message" ahead of the first anniversary of her death.
A cross-party fundraising event is being held in her former constituency.

Mr Cox said the co-ordinated suspension of campaigning would send a message that "whatever our political disagreements, we really do hold more in common and show a united front against hatred and extremism in all its forms".

He added: "Elections are huge moments of national importance and deserve to be taken seriously. But we also need to get a better balance.

"We spend way too much time fixated on the areas we disagree with each other and need to create more moments where we come together as a country.

"That's what I'm focused on and after polling day, I am sure that's exactly what people all over the UK will be crying out for."

Mrs Cox used her maiden speech in the House of Commons to say: "We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us."

To mark the anniversary of her death, Mr Cox has organised the Great Get Together from June 16 to 18, where thousands of community gatherings such as street parties, picnics and coffee mornings will be held across the country.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn paused his campaign during a visit to an arts centre in Liverpool. He tweeted: "We paused from #GE2017 campaigning to pay tribute to those working to unite communities across the UK. #MoreInCommon"

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was observing the hour while attending a community picnic in Kendal in his Cumbria constituency.
Green leader Caroline Lucas went to a church project in Brighton which will be involved in the Great Get Together.

A Conservative Party spokesman said the prime minister would pause her campaigning for an hour on Sunday afternoon.