Following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox, both Leave and Remain have suspended their campaigning in the EU referendum.
Special episodes of Question Time and This Week have also been cancelled, the BBC announced. Newsnight will not air its usual broadcast from the “Referendum truck” – scheduled for Chipping Norton – and instead host Kirsty Wark will head to Leeds.
David Cameron was due to address a meeting in Gibraltar, but this has been cancelled. Boris Johnson said this afternoon that the Leave “battle bus” would also cease campaigning.
The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has cancelled a planned speech at Mansion House and will instead offer short remarks on today’s events, as will the chancellor George Osborne.
Yesterday, Cox – with her husband and her two young children – sailed up the Thames in a boat, to counteract an anti-EU flotilla overseen by Ukip’s Nigel Farage.
My hubby @MrBrendanCox & children taking part in the battle of the #Thames – because we’re #StrongerIn #Remain pic.twitter.com/6JNMnQ4Zfg
Give a gift subscription to the New Statesman this Christmas from just £49— Jo Cox MP (@Jo_Cox1) June 15, 2016
This afternoon, the official campaign to leave the EU tweeted:
Our campaign is suspended. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Jo Cox’s family.
— Vote Leave (@vote_leave) June 16, 2016
While the Remain campaign tweeted:
We are suspending all campaigning for the day. Our thoughts are with Jo Cox and her family.
— Stronger In (@StrongerIn) June 16, 2016
Content from our partners
Related
