Labour MP dead after shooting attack

                               

An MP has died after she was shot and stabbed in a "horrific" assault in her constituency, police have said.

Jo Cox, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was left bleeding on the ground after the attack in Birstall, West Yorkshire. A man was arrested nearby.

One eyewitness told the BBC they heard her attacker shout "put Britain first" at least twice beforehand.

Tributes flooded in from politicians including David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Mrs Cox's husband Brendan said she would want people "to unite to fight against the hatred that killed her."

Vote Leave and Remain have both suspended campaigning in the EU referendum in light of the attack.

Mrs Cox, 41, is the first sitting MP to be killed since 1990, when Ian Gow was the last in a string of politicians to die at the hands of Northern Irish terror groups.

The man taken into custody was arrested in Market Street, not far from Birstall Library where Mrs Cox was holding a constituency surgery. He has been named locally as Tommy Mair.

Dozens of Mrs Cox's friends and colleagues gathered later for a vigil at St Peter's Church in Birstall.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn said the country would be "in shock at the horrific murder", describing the MP as a "much loved colleague".

He added: "Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve.

"In the coming days there will be questions to answer about how and why she died.

"But for now all our thoughts are with Jo's husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for."

Source: BBC