Things have got worse since Jo's murder says sister of MP Jo Cox - but there's hope
The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox says she is ready to work “hand-in-hand” with the Liverpool Echo'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.”
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, the third anniversary of Brexit.
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.
A message from Kim Leadbeater
My sister Jo was a great campaigner for all the things she believed in so passionately. Tragically she was murdered in the middle of the Brexit referendum campaign while out doing her job as an MP in the town where we were both brought up.
That was three years ago. But if the country felt split then, those divisions feel even deeper and more bitter today.
Jo would have hated that. She was all about bringing people and communities together. As she famously said, ‘we are far more united and have more in common than that which divides us’.
Jo was Labour but she was more than ready to work with Tories or anybody else to get things done on the issues she cared about. Whether it was the scourge of loneliness or the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the fighting in Syria and elsewhere.
Today the Jo Cox Foundation is announcing details of this year’s Great Get Together which aims to put the values Jo lived by into practice. This year, it takes place on what would have been Jo’s 45th birthday. By coincidence the events, over the weekend of June 21st-23rd, will also be taking place on the third anniversary of the Brexit referendum itself.
It’s also the date when readers of this newspaper and its sister publications are being urged to help bring the nation back together over a cup of tea with Britain Talks.
I’m delighted that we’re teaming up to encourage as many people as possible to get together with someone they may not always see eye-to-eye with. Sit down, have a cuppa or a bite to eat. Enjoy a BBQ or a sporting event. Get talking and you’ll probably discover that you really do have more in common than you might think.
Great Get Togethers will be taking place in cities, towns and villages all across the country. And at some of them there will be a special corner set aside for Britain Talks conversations.
It’s what I think the country is crying out for.
There’s going to be a lot more campaigning going on over the next few weeks and months. Healthy debate is what living in a democracy is all about. But I believe that we can have those disagreements in a respectful way without language that is threatening or intimidating.
Nobody in public life should feel in danger or be too scared to speak their mind. Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of our great country.
Working hand in hand, I believe the Great Get Together and Britain Talks can help heal some of the divisions that have scarred this country of late. 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.
We can all make a difference. For me it’s about trying to create a legacy for Jo and her children that we can all be proud of. It’s not too late to start planning a Great Get Together where you live and I really hope you’ll join us.
Thank you for your support.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/things-worse-jos-murder-says-16183541
