They came quietly, one by one, to pay respects to one of their own.
All morning, a steady stream of people placed flowers and candles at the foot of a statue in the main square. The statue of Joseph Priestley, the Birstall- born scientist who discovered oxygen in the 18th century, had become a makeshift shrine in this small West Yorkshire town, a place that is fiercely proud of its history.
On Wednesday, Birstall joined the list of towns such as Dunblane, Soham, Orlando which have been propelled into the international spotlight by violence, when a local man shot and stabbed local MP Jo Cox to death just metres from the village square.
Shortly after 1.30 pm – exactly 24 hours after Cox had battled with her assailant outside the local library – British prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn began a solemn walk towards the town square. Accompanied by the speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and Rev Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin, both men laid wreaths at the statue.
The gesture was a rare show of unity from two men from opposite ends of the political divide. Turning to the assembled media and local residents, Mr Corbyn said the death of the young Labour MP was a “tragedy beyond tragedy”, describing how she had been brutally murdered “in this town, a town she loved, a town she grew up in serving a community she had loved.”
The British prime minster recalled that he had first met Jo Cox in Darfur in 2006. “Two children have lost their mother, a husband has lost a loving wife, and parliament has lost one of its most passionate and brilliant campaigners, someone who epitomised the fact that politics is about serving others,” he said.
Embraced
As both politicians mingled with people in the crowd, the Labour leader embraced a local Labour activist who was in tears.
Dozens of police stood politely behind the security tape which cordoned off many of the streets.
In the market square, which had been full of life the previous day for the weekly Thursday market when Cox met her fate, local people gathered in small groups.
One local resident, Faranda, a Muslim woman in her 30s who has lived in the area for 15 years, recalled how she had met Ms Cox in the library a few months before.
“There was an event for children in the library and she was there with her kids – not as an MP, just as a mum. She was so friendly and down to earth. I took a picture of her with my three kids. Yesterday, I had to take out that photo and show it to my seven-year-old yesterday and explain what had happened.”
Her friend and neighbour, Shamira, recalled how Cox had visited a local Muslim school for girls where she worked as a science teacher. “She spoke to the girls in assembly and was just so inspirational. She really connected with them, explained what she did as an MP and how it was her job to represent them at Westminster.
Constituent after constituent recalled how she was different than the average MP, a community woman who brought people together. An Indian man who has lived in nearby Batley described how she had visited his local mosque the week before last. “She was such a nice woman. She reached out to all communities.”
But many had questions and concerns about the violence that had spilled on to the quiet streets of West Yorkshire. One woman described how more than 100 protestors had gathered as part of a Britain First march in January in nearby Dewsbury. “I think there should be more questions about what are the implications when people are so vocally racist and offensive. It can lead to things happening. “
Shared national identity
Yesterday was not a day for politics. Both Cameron and Corbyn, who have not shared a platform in the campaign for a Remain vote in the EU referendum, were brought together by violence yesterday.
Both refrained from political statements, though the prime minister came closest to articulating a notion of shared national identity, as he reflected on the current status of Britain.
“We should value and see as precious the democracy that we have on these islands where 65 million of us live together and work together and get on together. We do have peace, we do have stability and we do have a measure of economic wellbeing better than other countries . . . and it is all underpinned by tolerance,” he said.
As British voters prepare to make one of the most important decisions in their lifetimes about the future of their country, deciding what kind of nation they want to be will be a key question as they go to the polls.
