Leadbeater warns of lack of ‘progress’ since Jo Cox’s murder after Trump assassination attempt

Kim Leadbeater, the sister of Jo Cox, has raised concerns that the UK and other countries have not made “huge amounts of progress” since her sister’s murder, following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X overnight that he was “appalled by the shocking scenes” at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, adding: “We send him and his family our best wishes. Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, Leadbeater – the Labour MP for Spen Valley – described the scenes as “deeply disturbing”, telling viewers: “We’re back again having that conversation about what democracy looks like, what our politics looks like.

READ MORE: Sign up to our must-read daily briefing email on all things Labour

“There is absolutely no place for violence in a decent, civilised democracy and society. And those scenes are deeply shocking… I’m very pleased that President Trump is okay. But there have been other casualties.

“We’ve got to have that conversation about what a civilised democracy looks like. I’ve been having it since Jo was killed. I sadly feel that we’re not making huge amounts of progress in this country and in other countries. And we’ve gotta keep having that conversation.”

Also appearing on the programme, Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said: “This is a horrific incident, which we condemn completely and fulsomely. And thankfully, President Trump was not injured more seriously. The consequences of that are unthinkable.

READ MORE: King’s Speech: ‘The two-child benefit cap must be axed’

“But the thoughts of the whole British government, I’m sure the whole country of Britain, are with the American people and President Trump’s family and those affected today.”

Asked whether the Labour government is concerned about the polarisation of US politics, she told viewers: “We have seen a rise in polarisation. We have seen in rise in political intimidation, political hate.

“Obviously, you’ve already been discussing, we’ve seen the murder of two of my colleagues. My good friend Jo Cox and David Amess, a wonderful MP as well. So we have to take these issues incredibly seriously.

“We’ve seen necessary improvements to the security of MPs and to those seeking office as elected candidates.

READ MORE: Starmer vows closer collaboration with Europe has UK prepares to host summit

“Thankfully, this election didn’t have any serious incidents involved in it, although we have seen incidents of intimidation and deepfake and news and disinformation and misinformation being spread online about people.

“But we have to uphold the essence of our democracy as well, and as constituency MPs, as a constituency-based democracy, having contact with our constituents, the public, is a core part of our democracy, and we have to be able to uphold that.”

Asked about Leadbeater’s comments about a lack of progress, the Labour frontbencher said “we’ve got to look at the root causes”, noting that measures “have been put in place over recent years”.

But she added: “We need to look at further measures there as well. And the Home Secretary will take this, is taking this, incredibly seriously.”

SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour or the election – contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected]. 

SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning. 

DONATE: If you value our work, please donate to become one of our supporters here and help sustain and expand our coverage.

PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or content, email [email protected].