A Labour MP has died after being shot and stabbed in the street outside her constituency advice surgery.
Mother-of-two Jo Cox was attacked in West Yorkshire yesterday, by a man who reportedly shouted “Britain first”.
The gunman – named locally as 52-year-old “loner” Tommy Mair – was being quizzed by police last night.
Some witnesses claimed he said nothing as he attacked pro-EU Ms Cox and there were also reports she had intervened in a fight in the street.
Ms Cox’s husband Brendan led tributes to his 41-year-old wife, the first MP to be killed in office since 1990 when Ian Gow died in an IRA car bomb attack.
Politicians from across Scotland and the rest of the UK also spoke of their shock at the horrific news.
Campaigning for next week’s EU referendum was halted and the flags flew at half mast over Westminster.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Ms Cox was held in “huge regard as a brilliant young woman”.
The SNP leader added: “This is utterly shocking and tragic news, which has left everyone stunned. My thoughts are with Jo Cox’s family – my heart breaks for them.
“She had already contributed a huge amount in her time in parliament, and she was simply going about her job as a local MP.”
Ms Sturgeon’s predecessor, Gordon MP Alex Salmond, described Ms Cox as “one of the brightest and best of the new MPs and a great loss to the country”.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who cancelled an EU rally in Gibraltar, called her loss a “tragedy” and said parliament had lost a “great star”, hailing her work on the Syrian refugee crisis in particular.
Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale added: “She devoted her life to helping people in the darkest places in our world.
“Our hearts are broken by the loss of one of our country’s brightest hopes. We mourn not just the woman she was but the loss of everything she would have achieved.”
UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn also paid tribute, highlighting Ms Cox’s lifelong record of public service and her “deep commitment to humanity”.
And Moray MP Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, said: ‘”The death of Jo Cox is sickening and shocking.
“She had already brought so much to politics and to her community and to be so brutally cut down at such a young age and with so much still to give is beyond comprehension.
“Jo contributed a huge amount in her time in parliament, and had earned so much respect for her passion for her causes.
‘”She was doing her job when she died. All our thoughts are with her colleagues and friends in the Labour Party and our hearts go out to her husband Brendan and their two children.
“‘On behalf of the whole Westminster SNP group I share our sadness and extend our condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.”
Before being elected at last year’s general election as the Batley and Spen MP, Ms had worked for both Oxfam and anti-slavery charity the Freedom Fund.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown said that whenever he talked to Ms Cox the “compassion in her eyes and the commitment in her soul shone through”.
He added: “People will say that this does not happen in Britain. This should not happen in Britain. And we must resolve that this will never again happen in Britain.”
Highland MP Drew Hendry said: “Anyone who heard Jo speak or saw how she cared about what she did and how she was with others will realise how talented and able she was. This is a senseless loss.”
Eyewitnesses to the attack said the man kicked and stabbed Ms Cox before shooting her several times, with the final shot aimed at her face.
He was arrested shortly afterwards and weapons, including a firearm, were recovered.
In a statement, Ms Cox’s husband said: “Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.
“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.”
