UK | Lawmakers return to London to pay tribute to slain lawmaker

An image and floral tributes for Jo Cox lay on Parliament Square, outside the House of Parliament in London

British lawmakers returned to Parliament yesterday to pay tribute to lawmaker Jo Cox, as the man charged with her slaying was set to appear in court for a bail hearing.
Parliament was in recess for campaigning in the European Union referendum when Cox was shot and stabbed to death outside a library in her northern England constituency last week.
The killing — the first of a sitting British legislator in more than a quarter of a century — prompted an outpouring of shock and grief, and brought a three-day halt to campaigning for this week’s referendum.
Cox was a Labor legislator who had championed the plight of Syrian refugees and strongly backed a “remain” vote in Thursday’s EU poll.
Speaker John Bercow recalled the House of Commons to allow lawmakers to honor their colleague. In a break with tradition, members were allowed sit together, rather than dividing along party lines.
The House is generally recalled only at times of crisis or high significance. The last time it happened was in September 2014, so lawmakers could vote on whether to launch air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq.
The man accused of killing Cox, 52-year-old Thomas Mair, appeared yesterday at London’s Central Criminal Court for a bail hearing.
Mair gave his name as “death to traitors, freedom for Britain” in his first court appearance Saturday. AP