Hate ‘has got worse’ says Jo Cox sister
SOCIETY: The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox has said people who are angry “blame the other” amid a spike in hate crimes. Kim Leadbeater told MPs hate and abuse had “without a doubt” got worse since 2016.
THE SISTER of murdered MP Jo Cox has said people who are angry and frustrated “blame the other” amid a spike in hate crimes.
Appearing before the Commons’ Home Affairs Committee chaired by Labour MP Yvette Cooper yesterday, Kim Leadbeater, Ms Cox’s sister, said hate and abuse had “without a doubt” got worse since 2016.
Her comments came as figures showed police in England and Wales recorded 103,379 hate crimes in 2018/19 – 10 per cent more than the previous year and more than double the 2012/13 figure of 42,255 – a record high.
Ms Leadbeater, who has campaigned against hate and violence with the Jo Cox Commission, said: “I think there’s a frustration, a frustration across the country, people feeling disillusioned, people feeling disengaged.
“And I think that’s where the link back to politics comes, that people feel that they don’t have a say in things they feel frustrated and angry and the easiest thing to do when you feel that way is to blame the other, is to blame someone who is not like you.
“Until we start taking a holistic approach by looking at all these different organisations and influences within society, hate crime in towns and villages is not going to get any better.”
Ms Leadbeater was asked by Scottish Conservative Party MP Douglas Ross whether Ms Cox had any concerns for her safety before she went into politics.
Ms Leadbeater said: “[Things are] worse without a doubt. When she was considering standing we never talked about safety – I don’t think it was an issue.
“She was very concerned about being a mum and being a good MP, which many women are and indeed lots of men are in terms of being a good father.
“But we didn’t talk about safety and then during the time when she was an MP there were some cases when people said some very distasteful things online.
“And there were one or two incidents which I found out about actually after Jo had been killed which were somewhat worrying.”