The families of the murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox have voiced concern about a recent surge in violent political rhetoric in Britain. While the fatal attack on a synagogue in Manchester and targeting of Muslims have placed a renewed spotlight on violent antisemitism and Islamophobia, there are also concerns over an increasing normalisation of language calling for political figures to be killed.
The language comes after a summer of anti-immigration protests, culture war flashpoints and a surge in podcasts and YouTube videos predicting civil war. Examples include the suspension of a Reform UK councillor linked to a social media account calling for Keir Starmer to be shot, and the arrest of a man allegedly captured on film at a major far-right rally in London last month threatening to kill the prime minister. At the same rally, Elon Musk made comments later condemned by Downing Street, telling the crowd that "violence is coming".
Katie Amess, speaking ahead of the fourth anniversary of her father's death, said the murder of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk had been a triggering moment for her family but should also come as a wake-up call for the UK. "My father was someone who had just as many friends in the Labour party as in the Conservative party and worked with people from all sides, so he would be horrified at the insidious way in which dehumanising language has increasingly crept into social media," she said. "We can’t bring my father back, but we can surely learn lessons and realise that it is time to dial down the temperature of what is being said both online and offline."
Brendan Cox, whose wife Jo Cox was killed by a far-right extremist during the EU referendum campaign, warned that high levels of polarisation and division in Britain were making violence more likely. "In the US, our nearest cultural neighbour, there is a zeitgeist of renewed political violence. We had hoped that what happened after the deaths of Jo and David, when everyone drew breath, would happen after the death of Charlie Kirk. Instead, what has happened in the US is being used as another way of stoking political division," he said.
Separately, footage seen by the Guardian shows far-right activist Chris Boyall calling for Keir Starmer to be shot dead outside No 10 Downing Street. Leicestershire police said the video had been reviewed thoroughly but no criminal offence had been identified. The response was questioned by Stand Up to Racism, which highlighted the footage. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage accused Keir Starmer of inciting violence against Reform UK members, and called on police to act against TikTok users who he said had called for him to be shot.
