Britain mourned lawmaker Jo Cox on Friday after a man with suspected neo-Nazi links and a history of mental illness was arrested over a killing that has thrown next week’s referendum on European Union membership into limbo.
Cox, 41, a supporter of Britain staying in the EU, was shot and stabbed on Thursday by a man who witnesses said shouted “Britain first” in her own electoral district near Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire in northern England.
A 52-year-old man was arrested near the murder scene and police said a firearm was recovered. The man was being questioned on Friday and no charges had been made. British media named the man as Thomas Mair.
Britain First, a far-right nationalist group, denied any links with Mair but a U.S. civil rights group said he had been associated in the past with a neo-Nazi organization.
In Birstall, a quiet town of a few thousand people, weeping mourners laid flowers at a monument near the scene of the attack. One message read: “Fascists feed on fear.”
“It is a vile act that has killed her,” Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party whichCox represented, said as he lay flowers in Birstall with Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday. “We will not allow those people that spread hatred and poison to divide our society.”
The killing prompted campaigning to be suspended for the June 23 EU referendum, the tone of which has become ugly and included bitter personal recriminations as well as furious debate of issues such as immigration and the economy.
The murder sent shockwaves around Britain which has strict gun controls and sparked debate about the safety of lawmakers, the heightened tempo of political confrontation and whether the slaying would affect the outcome of the referendum.
Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed to recall parliament on Monday in tribute to Cox, a well-liked mother of two young children and considered an outstanding member of the new intake of Labour parliamentarians. She had been a prominent aid worker.
Both sides have temporarily suspended their national EU campaigns until at least Sunday.
Shares, oil and bond yields rose after campaigning was suspended, reversing earlier losses this week which followed a swing in opinion polls towards the Leave camp.
The implied probability of a vote to remain rose to 67 percent, up from 65 percent on Thursday, according to Betfair odds.
