'Thank you for the love,' Jo Cox's husband leads worldwide tributes to killed MP at birthday vigil
Jo Cox's grieving husband Brendan took to the stage in front of thousands of people this afternoon to pay tribute to his wife on what would have been her 42nd birthday.
Friends and relatives organised a vigil in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the life of the Batley and Spen MP, who was stabbed and shot in the street in her constituency of Birstall, West Yorkshire, last Thursday.
The emotionally-charged event, held a short walk from Westminster where the Labour MP was this week due to return to work, was hosted by her friend, journalist Mariella Frostrup.
Watch an excerpt from Brendan Cox's tribute:
Brendan Cox delivered an eight-minute speech honouring his wife and thanking well-wishers for their support: "Thank you for the love that you have poured on our family since our world collapsed on Thursday," he said.
"Thank you to Jo's amazing friends, and friends of friends, and even complete strangers who have managed, despite your own grief, to organise all of this in less than a week."
He echoed the words of his sister-in-law Kim Leadbeater earlier this week as he told those gathered that his wife "just wanted people to be happy and for the world to be a fairer place".
"That's where her politics came from, not from the libraries of Cambridge or any theoretical attachment to a narrow ideology but from the streets of Batley and her own empathy," he said. "When she saw pain she wanted to do all that she could to alleviate it."
Mr Cox said his wife had lived her life to the full.
Jo Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater talks to crowds in Batley about how 'day-to-day' acts can honour her sister's legacy:
He told those gathered: "She was a mountain climber, a runner, a cyclist, an avid reader, an awful cook, a swimmer, a great exaggerator, a wild food forager, a middle lane driver, a log carrier, a ball of energy and determination, and above all else she was a mum. She was the best mum that any child could wish for. And wish we do, to have her back in our lives."
He said he had spoken with his children every day since his wife had died about the things they will miss and memories they will forever cherish.
"We try to remember not how cruelly she has been taken from us, but how unbelievably lucky we were to have her in our lives for so long," he added.
Other speakers included education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, actors Bill Nighy and Gillian Anderson, a performance by Lily Allen and a personal message and song from U2's Bono.
Lily Allen sang Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know, a song beloved by the Cox family.
A round of applause filled Trafalgar Square when the crowds were told that Bernard Kenny, the man who tried to save the MP when she was stabbed, was also marking his 78th birthday today.
Those on the stage were greeted by a sea of placards, many carrying the slogan #LoveLikeJo and #MoreInCommon, while others were simply colour portraits of the smiling MP.
Tributes around the UK and worldwide
Thousands of people across the country and around the world paused to reflect on a politician and campaigner who "just wanted people to be happy."
The #MoreInCommon events - a reference to the MP's maiden speech in the Commons last year - were held in Dublin, Brussels, and at Glastonbury festival.
Batley
Edinburgh
Dublin
Glastonbury Festival, Somerset
Washington, USA
A vigil in memory of Jo Cox in Brussels:
Paris
A moment of silence in the European Parliament: