Labour MP Jo Cox shot in Birstall

I saw a photo of Farage and that dreadful poster yesterday - I was surprised the poster had ever been made let alone used.

Nor should we try to whip up hatred ourselves.

Thank you for the link B.

It is not OK to tolerate hatred.

Nor should we try to whip up hatred ourselves.

I agree with you DD.

Anya, exposing right wing extremism and underlying racism is not the same as whipping up hatred. We should be standing up against these things, not burying our heads in the sand.

"Nor should we try to whip up hatred ourselves." I feel that is a little late on GN Anya. No we certainly should not stir up hatred of groups, etc., but perhaps people's attitude to others on GN and the moderation of posts does bare some thinking about.

This article sums up much: "The mood is ugly, and an MP is dead" by Polly Toynbee

It gives an insight into what words can lead to and how people seem to think that not only have they a right to an opinion but also the right to suppress others.

I don't think we should be blaming the referendum or anybody else! It's very easy to jump to conclusions and blame politicians. For heaven's sake we are not a country of people who hate, we have always been quite the opposite. The press will always be subject without facts first!

I was shocked to hear this on the news, that poor woman, and the family

I'm afraid people like Polly Toynbee don't help! We must accept people have different views. Whether I agree or disagree with either campaign democracy must rule. You cannot just ban because YOU or I disagree. If there is anger around perhaps it's because the public's opinions are ignored or we are threatenef with PC style censorship. We must ALL be allowed a voice!

RIP Jo our thoughts are with your family.

I think we should wait to find out the state of the gunman's health rather than jump to conclusions that there is a link with the referendum.

That said, the Farage poster is sickening, especially for those who would wish to vote leave for very different reasons than the immigration issue. Brexit campaigners will be pretty annoyed about this, as it implies that all those voting leave have the same simplistic and unpleasant views about sad fellow humans faced with a life of misery in their own homeland.

Poor woman. Poor family. Just terrible.

@Ruth1958

I don't agree. I do not - and never will - accept the views of anybody who thinks it's OK to murder somebody.

Daphne, thank you for posting that sick comment from Facebook, exposing hatred should not be dismissed as not for this forum, it may upset some but they like all here are free to read, discuss or ignore

A disturbed individual will grab any weapon in a rage and use it on anyone who crosses him/her. If this really was done by someone who was unbalanced, he had three weapons ready to use - a gun, a knife, and an extreme political ideology. He used them all to deadly effect.

The same is true of the Orlando gunman, who seems to have had personal sexual problems of his own, a lot of anger, and a gun, and had joined not one but three terrorist organisations - Hezbollah, Al Quieda, and Isis (who are not even all working for the same aim).

The combination is lethal. Removing one of the elements might have made a difference to the outcome. But doing it via a confrontation of facing hate with equal hate turns it from disapproval into all-out warfare - and fanatics revel in the glory of opposing "oppression" and attract others who are discontented.

Good grief! Who has said they think that it's okay to murder someone? No-one. Where did that comment spring from, DD?

I'm all for free speech, but publishing hateful comments from other media are just giving them air space. Why would anyone want to do that? We all know there are hateful people but that most people are not like that.

I'm afraid people like Polly Toynbee don't help! We must accept people have different views. Whether I agree or disagree with either campaign democracy must rule.

The problem is that democracy doesn't "rule" even on an innocuous forum like GN. We do indeed have different views but some have the idea that "I am entitled to my opinion, therefore I am entitled to express that opinion, therefore that opinion is a fact, therefore no one may disagree with it".

Just as the message on the car in PT's article says "this is a Leave area" we have had exactly that on a thread on here.

The thing about democracy is that it should apply to everyone not just a select few.

AnyaHe targeted a politician It therefore was a political act however warped and whatever mental health issues he may or nay not have ,and whether you like it or not

DD "I don't agree. I do not - and never will - accept the views of anybody who thinks it's OK to murder somebody." Who exactly has expressed the view that you should accept that it is OK to murder somebody? No-one that I can find on here, perhaps you could point them out?

What IS urgent is that we find out whether this man is genuinely a member of any terrorist organisation, (or even of Britain First, a homegrown lot with extreme views but not necessarily one advocating murder) or is a sick individual who cannot control his anger and has latched onto the name of the movement to give him a "reason" for it.

I don't think this awful killing has anything to do with EU debate. However I feel that a lot of ordinary, and often underprivileged people in UK in 2000's feel increasingly dominated and culturally lead by an increasing Left wing agenda.The hallmark of any democracy surely is to have a broad representation of various viewpoints discussed in a civilised manner.

I don't feel hatred. I feel anger that people make excuses and are complacent.

The historian, Ian Kershaw, wrote:

“The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference.”

Jo Cox's husband wrote:

"I and Jo's friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo."

I believe that tolerating hate makes us less human and I hope I never stop fighting against it.

Over the last couple of months, we've witnessed hate during the London mayoral election and now the referendum campaign. The stage was set for what's happened.

Aha! So it's the left's fault? The UK does not have a left-wing agenda and hasn't for years.

@Elegran

I suspect we'll find out he's not a member. I don't think that's relevant. The point is that he will have absorbed the rhetoric of such groups from the internet and even much of the main stream media.

This is a tradegy, young life wasted. Thoughts in particular, to her husband and two little children.