PM Jo Cox comments outrage
BORIS ACCUSED OVER HIS USE OF ‘DANGEROUS OR INFLAMMATORY’ LANGUAGE DURING BREXIT DEBATE
BORIS Johnson sparked outrage in Parliament by saying the best way to honour murdered Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox’s memory would be to “get Brexit done.”
The Prime Minister’s comments came as he was addressing MP Tracy Brabin – who now sits in the late Mrs Cox’s seat – during a Brexit debate.
Friends of Mrs Cox – who was murdered by a right-wing extremist during the 2016 EU referendum campaign – had accused Mr Johnson of using dangerous or inflammatory language when discussing anti-no deal Brexit legislation.
MPs became incensed when the Prime Minister repeatedly named the cross-party Benn Act to block nodeal as a “surrender act.” As members began pointing at a shield commemorating Mrs Cox on the wall, Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff warned Mr Johnson to stop using the language of “surrender” and “betrayal.”
Ms Sherriff, her voice breaking with emotion, told the PM how she and fellow MPs were “subject to death threats and abuse every single day”, saying the threats often quoted the PM’s words – surrender act, betrayal and traitor.
She said: “And we stand here under the shield of our departed friend with many of us in this place subject to death threats and abuse every single day.
“And let me tell the Prime Minister they often quote his words ‘surrender act, betrayal, traitor.’ And I for one am sick of it.
“We must moderate our language and it has to come from the Prime Minister first.”
Mr Johnson provoked rage when he dismissed Ms Sherriff ’s remarks as “humbug.”
Later he told the Commons: “The best way to honour the memory of Jo Cox and indeed the best way to bring this country together would be, I think, to get Brexit done.”