MP pays tribute to pal Jo in Commons
BIRMINGHAM MP Andrew Mitchell paid tribute to his friend Jo Cox, as MPs gathered to remember their colleague who was killed last week.
He said they worked together to try to get help for the millions of people suffering because of the brutal civil war in Syria.
Parliament had been in recess to allow MPs to concentrate on the EU referendum. However, they returned to Westminster for a special session of the House of Commons following the killing of the 41-year-old mother of two outside the public library in Birstall, in her West Yorkshire constituency.
Wearing the white rose of Yorkshire in his buttonhole as a tribute to the former Yorkshire MP, Mr Mitchell said Mrs Cox was “brave”, adding: “Her energy and effectiveness were an inspiration”.
Mr Mitchell, a former secretary of state for international development who represents Sutton Coldfield, told the House of Commons that they met the Russian ambassador together, to confront him over Russia’s behaviour in Syria.
He told MPs: “We invited ourselves to tea with the Russian ambassador in his London residence.
“With clever charm, but steely determination, this five-foot bundle of old-fashioned Yorkshire common sense dressed him down for his country’s cruelty and cynicism in Syria. I do not believe the Russian ambassador will easily forget that visit.”