Shooting death of MP Jo Cox spurs reflection on 'nastiness' of British politics

Birstall is a long way from Westminster and its virulent politics, but they both achewith loss.In life, Jo Cox had worked from bothwithin the political system and without tobring change, to help people here and abroad.

Now, the 41-year-oldBritish MP'stragic death atthe hands of a gunman, just a week before one of the U.K.'s most divisive votes, isbringing sudden change to a political landscape steeped in vitriol.

It has already unleashed a degree of fingerpointing. Not for the killingitself, whichis still under investigation but for the venomous atmosphere that surrounds it.

In the town where she was born and raised, however, the mourning came first.

Birstallresidents gathered Friday,under intermittentrain,around the central square where a mountain of flowers was steadily growing just a few feet from the police cordon set up around thespot where Cox was attacked.

Four police officers moved closer to the memorial in order to make people safe, one of them said.

"It's very sad she's been taken in such circumstancesa young mother, a young wife, everything to look forward to," saidAbu Momoniat, 59, who lives in the area.

"To be taken in such a small town where she's been serving It's just a tragedy, really."

"Everywhere the mood is just so down at the moment. Everyone is so shocked," saidAisha, who did not want her last name used. Shebroke down in tears as she spoke.

Later in the day, a vigilin the nearby town of Batley, which was part of Cox's constituency, drew a crowd of peopleof diverse ethnicities.

Party leaders pay respects

Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn also came to place flowers and pay their respects.

But as the tributes and the flowers poured in, the full-throttle sprint to next week's referendum on leaving the EUcame to an unexpected stop.

Barely an hour after news broke of Cox'sdeath at the hands of a man armed with a gun and aknife, campaigning for the June 23 referendum was suspended. A call centre for the Remainside was shuttered. Boris Johnson, the top campaigner for theLeave side,announced he wouldleave the trail. All the big guns fell silent.

A day later, the Conservatives announced they would not contest Cox's seat, whichwill eventually have to be filled in a byelection.

Other lawmakers of all stripes were in a reflective mood.

There hasbeen an increase in vitriol in public debate.Disagreements are essential, but there's a feeling that there is more nastiness.- YvetteCooper, Labour MP

"We don't know yet know, obviously, the circumstances in this case, but there hasbeen an increase in vitriol in public debate," said Labour MP Yvette Cooper.

"Disagreements are essential, but there's a feeling that there is more nastiness."

Attack didn't occur in isolation, say some

PollyToynbee, political columnist for the Guardian, went even further this morning,blaming "open and shocking" recklessness, the "finger-jabbing and overt racism."

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Explosive words, when set against the backdrop of Cox's support for refugees andimmigrants (and for remaining in the EU), in a debate where those in support of an exit from the European Union, orBrexit,have usedimmigration as an argument against remaining with the EU.

"The attack on a public official cannot be viewed in isolation," she wrote."It occurs against a backdrop of an ugly public mood in which we have been told todespise the political class, to distrust those who serve, to dehumanize those withwhom we do not readily identify."

This country is no stranger to political violence against elected officials. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland it was a regular occurrence.

But it hasn't seen such an eventin a generationnot since Conservative MP Ian Gow was killed in a car bombingby the IRA in1990.

The coming vote would have been the second most crucial of Cox's political career.

The first was when she won her seat in last year's election.

That Cox had been an idealist who had done extensive humanitarian work, and beena dogged proponent of helping the disadvantaged, has left people bereft right acrossthe country.

'You can't killdemocracy'

At Parliament Square, beneath Big Ben in London, a steady stream of people came to layflowers on the sidewalk near a large photo of Cox.

Others stood quietly, reading the heartfelt messages that had been left by mourners.

"We are so sorry," said one handwritten note attached to a bunch of white roses.

On a white placard growing dark with signatures, someone wrote, "You can't killdemocracy."

I just wanted to remember her.- Man placing roses at Jo Cox memorial in London

"She had the same political beliefs as me, and this sort of thing doesn't happen oftenhere," said a man who had come to place some roses.

"I just wanted to remember her."

Baroness Sheehan, a peer of the House of Lords, also started her day by placingsome flowers on the sidewalk.

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She had worked with Cox on an all-party initiative that Coxhad set up to help people trapped within Syria who were not receiving any aid.

"She was an inspirational leader," Sheehansaid, visibly emotional. "I'm so sad that she'sgone."