YEP Says: Such a touching response to a much-loved MP

A corner of Yorkshire fell silent as a town stopped to remember the late MP Jo Cox.
Crowds line the streets in Heckmondwike as they wait for the cortege to travel through the town. PIC: Tony JohnsonCrowds line the streets in Heckmondwike as they wait for the cortege to travel through the town. PIC: Tony Johnson
Crowds line the streets in Heckmondwike as they wait for the cortege to travel through the town. PIC: Tony Johnson

United in grief, crowds half a dozen deep lined the streets of Batley as her funeral cortege passed through. Some had known her.

Others had never met the mother of two, but felt compelled to share their sorrow at her senseless death.

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It was a dignified response to the shocking events of last month which forced this ordinary town to face the most extraordinary of circumstances.

Mrs Cox, who prized family life above all else, would have been touched by the presence of dozens of children from from Norristhorpe who threw white roses into the road as the cars carrying the MP’s loved ones went by.

Perhaps most touching of all were the posters which had been strung on lampposts and taped to the the window of the constituency office which had become her second home.

‘Today I Pledge to Love Like Jo’ was written across the top and beneath her own quote that ‘far more unites us, than divides us’. Those words, taken from her maiden speech delivered just over a year ago, have been often repeated since her death. With heads bowed and a gentle applause, her words were reminder that we should all promise to try to make the world a better place.

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