Jo Cox inspires drive to help the lonely
THE sister of murdered MP Jo Cox today spoke of her pride at “something good” coming out of her death as she launched a commission to tackle loneliness in the UK in her memory.
The Batley and Spen MP and motherof-two was murdered by far-Right extremist Thomas Mair outside her surgery in Yorkshire a week before the EU referendum. At the time she had been taking the first steps towards establishing such a commission.
At the launch in Westminster of the cross-party Jo Cox Commission on Lone- liness, Kim Leadbeater said: “We feel immensely proud to be following up on her legacy and I’m sure she would feel the same that something good is coming out of this terrible tragedy.”
She said her sister experienced loneliness herself at university in Cam- bridge where she initially struggled to make friends, and it had left a lasting impression. “Jo being in a new place with strangers a long way from home was very hard. It made us both realise you can be surrounded by people but still feel desperately alone,” she said.
The commission is a partnership of 13 organisations and charities that will try to find practical solutions to help people suffering from loneliness.
It is being led by Tory MP Seema Kennedy and close friend Labour MP Rachel Reeves. Volunteers today handed out “Happy to Chat” badges for the campaign at Victoria, Waterloo and King’s Cross railway stations.