Brexit campaign delayed for second day following MP's murder

Campaigning for next week's EU referendum in the United Kingdom has been called off for a second day in respect to murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.

The 41-year-old was gunned down in her constituency in Yorkshire yesterday as she ran a surgery for those living in Batley and Span. Cox was an advocate of remaining in the European Union and had campaigned passionately for it.

Events planned by the two main groups were cancelled, while publications of a key opinion poll and an IMF report were postponed until the weekend after the horrific events of Thursday afternoon.

Publications of a key opinion poll and an IMF report were postponed until the weekend after the horrific events of Thursday afternoon

Dee Collins, West Yorkshire Police’s temporary chief constable, said in a televised news conference that police were “not in a position to discuss any motive.” She said a 52-year-old man had been arrested and police weren’t looking for anyone else after recovering a number of weapons. The BBC said the man had been named locally as Tommy Mair.

On Thursday afternoon, David Cameron cancelled a planned pro-EU speech in Gibraltar after learning of the attack, which has reverberated around the world with various global leaders expressing their sympathies.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC that Cox was "an exemplary MP, a real servant of democracy in every way one could want." Cox initially supported Corbyn's leadership of the party, before changing sides and amitting to having regretted the decision. She had been tipped by many for a future leadership role within the party.

Cox was elected to the House of Commons last year and had taken an active part in the campaign to keep Britain in the EU. On Wednesday, her husband, Brendan, had taken their two young children out onto the River Thames to fly an “IN” flag from a motorboat.

Cox was elected to the House of Commons last year

Brendan Cox released a statement that said "she would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love, and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her."

Cox was killed outside the venue for one of her regular sessions at which constituents in the town of Birstall can seek advice and help.

“Britain First,” which the arrested man is reported but not confirmed to have shouted, is the name of a group that campaigns against immigration and Britain’s EU membership. In a statement on their website, the group said it “obviously is NOT involved and would never encourage behavior of this sort.”