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RE: Jo Cox: A Death, A Decision
"Well, the Britain these far-right people want is not the Britain my family and I want. The Britain we want is the one showed in Birstall where an unnamed 77-year old Pakistani man tackled the killer of Jo Cox in an attempt to stop him and got injured for his troubles. Despite this tragedy, that man is a hero. It is quite significant that he, an ethnic minority, a Muslim, an old frail man, was the one who tackled this fellow in defence of his MP. The Britain I want is the one one being showcased in Birstall today as Britons of all religions, all faiths and all races are coming together in unity to mourn an outstanding British politician".
The above was originally how I presented the 7th paragraph in the article "Jo Cox: A Death, A Decision". At the time of writing, which was in the immediate aftermath of the event, some of the reports claimed the unnamed 77-year old man that tackled the killer was a Pakistani. However, it's since emerged that the fellow's name is Bernard Carter-Kenny, a retired Yorkshire miner. While no report I've read has yet specifically mentioned his nationality, religion, ethnicity or race, I do not think with such a name, he's Pakistani. I have therefore made appropriate corrections in the article with regard to those posted on the social network on open forums like this one. Anyone who reads those I cannot correct here or in any other forum should please accept this correction as appropriately applicable.
Thank you.
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On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 5:00 PM, 'Kennedy Emetulu' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
--..The death of Jo Cox, the 41-year old Labour MP murdered while going about her duty in her constituency in Birstall, UK is sending shockwaves around the world. Here was an excellent MP who was celebrated by her constituents and colleagues for her vision, warmth, industry and open-door policy gunned and hacked down in broad daylight by a 52-year old Mr Tommy Mair. This man, a fellow Yorkshire resident described as a loner was reported to have shouted "Britain first!" as he hacked her down. So, while this brutal killing has pushed to the fore the debate about security of MPs, the more telling impact is that it has brought the BREXIT campaign closer to the consciousness of the people because Jo Cox was a passionate campaigner for the Remain Campaign.Okay, the investigations are still ongoing and it may well turn out that Mr Mair has mental health issues. In fact, there are unconfirmed reports that he was a patient at the Mirfield-based Pathways Day Centre for adults with mental illness before 2010. But whether or not he has mental health issues, with the BREXIT referendum just a few days away no one is pretending that people are not looking at this incident as a possible determinant of where their vote will go. To me, whether or not the fellow is sane, he could not have felt that strongly about the issue to the extent of killing the MP if there was no prior talk with others. There are also reports that he's a white supremacist with clear links to white extremist groups. For instance, he is said to have been a long-time subscriber to a pro-Apartheid extremist magazine, "S. A. Patriot" up till 2006. The UK-based publication, which campaigns against "the fall of civilised rule" in South Africa, was edited by former National Front member Alan Harvey.Now, I'm not saying any group of people set him up to do this, but they may have created the condition that influenced his troubled mind (if indeed, troubled) to push him to go out there and kill an MP that has been a staunch campaigner for Britain to remain in Europe and one of the more progressive politicians on the immigration front with her work with refugees all over the world and her serious activism over Dafur, Syria and Palestine. I mean, since the Leave Campaign has focused its main case against remaining in the EU on immigration, it is not out of place to imagine that unstable supporters would do what this fellow has done, especially with the neo-racialist tone of the Leave Campaign when discussing immigration and immigrants. Here is a man said to have lived in the Birstall area for more than thirty years and who, despite being a loner has not been known to be violent before now. The only thing they know him for is that he's the one that does the gardening for the locals for a living. What could have triggered his mind except the viciousness of this campaign?I know that the politicians are being cautious now, so that no one accuses them of playing politics with this death, but it's worth observing that Neil Coyle, the Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark has, while paying tribute to Jo Cox, broken ranks already by saying clearly that the Leave Campaign "risks inspiring extremist elements". While Mr Coyle is being rounded on for playing politics with this, it is important that the rest of us, especially those of us who are ethnic minorities, look closely at those the Leave Campaign and its leading promoters are empowering with their rhetoric. I say this, because whatever the reason the killer did this and whatever the ultimate outcome of police investigation, as an ethnic minority in the UK, the whole tone of the debate and this killing worry me. In fact, if I was thinking of voting Leave, at this point I would be doing a rethink because a Britain out of Europe I see is a very dark place. With Nigel Farage strutting around with a sick smirk on his face and Boris Johnson seeking frantically the keys to No 10, I see a Britain where the far-right rules and where the civil liberties and freedoms won over the years will be eroded in pursuit of the false objective of making "Britain first!" As Samuel Johnson once famously said, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel and I see a lot of them now wrapping themselves around the Union Jack.Honestly, Jo Cox's death has left me really sad and I just cannot muster the strength for now to make a proper analysis of this future I see if we leave Europe, but suffice it to say when you read the statement by Brendan Cox, Jo's husband and his insistence that we must defeat hate, you get the idea that he has an idea where this whole hate is coming from, especially when we consider that he himself is a staunch supporter of the Remain Campaign who had consistently complained about the hate coming from the Leave camp before this incident.So, yes, this hate is not coming from Muslims or immigrants; it's coming from people who think they have an entitlement to Britain by virtue of their white skin and their supposed indigenousness. It is coming from people who have been brainwashed into thinking that immigrants are the devils coming to take over their land and their jobs and that they are left no choice but to use violence to stop them. They are the people who people the white extremist groups and even though there are many decent people who want Britain out of Europe for other reasons, these extremists are today hiding under the sovereignty argument to push the idea of Britain leaving the EU as mainstream. But in truth, this is just primed to be the first step in their mission to return Britain to the rulership of the far-right.Well, the Britain these far-right people want is not the Britain my family and I want. The Britain we want is the one showed in Birstall where an unnamed 77-year old Pakistani man tackled the killer of Jo Cox in an attempt to stop him and got injured for his troubles. Despite this tragedy, that man is a hero. It is quite significant that he, an ethnic minority, a Muslim, an old frail man, was the one who tackled this fellow in defence of his MP. The Britain I want is the one one being showcased in Birstall today as Britons of all religions, all faiths and all races are coming together in unity to mourn an outstanding British politician.As an ethnic minority with a stake in Britain and the wider world, I will urge my fellow Britons to vote to stay in Europe, to vote to stay connected with the world. With the rise of far-right parties all over Europe now on the back of the misdirected angst against immigration, do not blindly sign your own death warrant. You've got to know that there's nothing by way of a viable solution to the immigration problem being offered by the Leave Campaign. All they're doing is selling fear - fear of small Britain being swarmed by Barbarians. The Little Englander in Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage is just being ballooned by the foul air of overambition! Even their attempt to link the immigration with an economic argument is cloaked in evil lies and fear-mongering! I mean, what is more embarrassing than Alex Salmon catching out Boris Johnson misquoting the Bank of England report he has not read and typically being bullish in his topped-up ignorance? It is typical of the tissues of lies being bandied about by the Leave Campaign to hear Johnson say that a Bank of England study showed that for every 10 percent increase in immigration there was a two percent reduction in wages when in fact what the study says is that a 10 percent rise in immigration would result in a one-third of one pence diminution in average wages. Since when did one-third of one pence become two percent reduction in wages? But these are the type of bloodcurdling lies they bandy about in their bid to get Britain out of Europe.Obviously, the campaigns have been suspended for now in tribute to Jo, but the vote is still coming up next Thursday, 23 June 2016. So, Nigerians and all other ethnic minorities in the UK, including all progressive and peace-loving citizens of the country, vote to make Britain greater in Europe! There will be no better tribute to Jo Cox, a true internationalist and lover of humanity, than ensuring that the bigots do not take over!…..The picture is of Jo Cox and family joining the #floatilla campaign on the River Thames as part of the IN (Remain) Campaign. The picture was posted on June 15, at the time of the event, by Brendan Cox, the husband of Jo with the following comment: "So this is the moment the #VoteLeave lot started hosing my kids with river water. Nice friendly lot #floatilla."…
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