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The husband of Jo Cox said his wife’s name must not be used to score political points after Jeremy Corbyn last night posted footage of the murdered MP to criticise Boris Johnson.
The Labour leader’s film featured clips of Mrs Cox and a vigil held after her death, with the caption: “Boris Johnson does not care about violence on our streets.”
Critics said Mr Corbyn was using her murder to score “cheap political points” while her husband Brendan Cox said the Labour leader was “wrong” to infer hateful language was a “simple party political issue”.
Mr Cox said: “Jeremy is right that the best way to honour Jo is to defeat hatred and division. He’s also right the PM has a particular responsibility.
“But he’s wrong to infer this is a simple party political issue. Jo was passionately Labour but some things must transcend party politics.”
He also shared a post which said Jo Cox’s name was “more than a political scoring point” with the caption “This. Thank you”. Mr Corbyn was facing a backlash for his video which opens with him talking about Mrs Cox’s murder three years ago by a far-Right activist in her West Yorkshire constituency.
Speaking over a montage of clips of Mrs Cox, Mr Johnson and female MPs, Mr Corbyn said: “This Prime Minister knows these words can promote violence and have real consequences. He wants division. Clearly, he doesn’t care about the violence on our streets.”
He goes on to criticise Mr Johnson and call for a Labour government.
Mr Corbyn added: “Many are deeply concerned about the language used by Boris Johnson, language which is being repeated by the far-Right. When this was raised with him by women MPs, who themselves face death threats, he arrogantly dismissed them. It was nothing short of disgraceful”. Former Labour MP John Woodcock shared the video and said: “You can really shut up. Disgusting.”
Meanwhile Tory MP and business minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “You are so wrong to use Jo Cox in this way, when her family have specifically asked for her not to be used in this way. To be kept out of politics.
“If you have an ounce of decency Jeremy Corbyn you would take this video down.” It follows a row over language in Parliament this week in which Mr Johnson said that the “best way” to honour Mrs Cox was to “get Brexit done”. Her sister Kim Leadbeater called for a dialling down of extreme language saying it was “not helpful to Jo’s kids”.
She told ITV: “For me to come out and say outrageous things about Boris Johnson — I just don’t think that’s a useful way of moving forward. I can say what I think is right and what I think is wrong but I’m going to try and do that in a measured manner.”
The daughter of Labour MP Yvette Cooper spoke out yesterday to say she constantly fears for her mother’s life because of the way people speak about politicians.
The Standard contacted the Labour Party for comment.
