Kim Leadbeater, the sister of Jo Cox, has raised concerns that the UK and other countries have not made “huge amounts of progress” since her sister’s murder, following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X overnight that he was “appalled by the shocking scenes” at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, adding: “We send him and his family our best wishes. Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, Leadbeater – the Labour MP for Spen Valley – described the scenes as “deeply disturbing”, telling viewers: “We’re back again having that conversation about what democracy looks like, what our politics looks like.
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“There is absolutely no place for violence in a decent, civilised democracy and society. And those scenes are deeply shocking… I’m very pleased that President Trump is okay. But there have been other casualties.
“We’ve got to have that conversation about what a civilised democracy looks like. I’ve been having it since Jo was killed. I sadly feel that we’re not making huge amounts of progress in this country and in other countries. And we’ve gotta keep having that conversation.”
Also appearing on the programme, Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said: “This is a horrific incident, which we condemn completely and fulsomely. And thankfully President Trump was not injured more seriously. The consequences of that are unthinkable.
“But the thoughts of the whole British government, I’m sure the whole country of Britain, are with the American people and President Trump’s family and those affected today.”
More to follow.
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