Today the House of Commons gathered to pay respect to the life and career of Jo Cox. It was just last week that she was brutally assassinated in the streets of her constituency in Birstall, England. It was an unfair and unprovoked attack. By all accounts she was a champion of her constituency and the under-represented worldwide.

I’ve never seen MPs cry but today I did. The Labour Party was shattered. The rest of Parliament came together to put their arm around them and help them grieve.
The saddest part about this affair, from my point of view, is that I’ve heard this story before. In fact, I’ve heard it afar too many times.

In January 2011, Arizona Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head during an attack in her Tuscon constituency in the parking lot of a Safeway grocery store where she was having a meeting.

The attacker mindless sprayed bullets and killed six people, including a federal judge and a child. He shot 16 people. Gabrielle survived the attack but suffered severe brain damage after being shot in the head.

The attacker, who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic who seemed to have an obsession with Representative Giffords and President George W. Bush.
The attacker was a member of websites that were proponents of conspiracy theories. He was also believed to be anti-Semitic.

During this time, the National Rifle Association were targeting Congress members who were in favour of pro-gun regulations. Sarah Palin (half term Governor of Alaska.) with target signs on their websites. The conservative media in America were seriously pushing the pro-gun agenda

In November 2015, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, an attacker stormed a Planned Parenthood office shooting 12 people, killing 3. When he was finally caught and brought to justice he claimed that he was a, “Warrior for the babies” and yelled out, “no more baby parts!” during his arrest interview. As with the Arizona case, this person was also deemed to be incompetent to stand trial and remanded to a mental hospital.

What made this attack poignant was the national debate at the time. The American conservatives were arguing, in the most vitriolic language that Planned Parenthood, an organisation that helps people with family planning, was selling off the human tissue of live fetuses for profit. Carly Fiorina, cited the video during her 2015 bid to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

The problem with this video and the entire argument was that every part of the video was a lie. A LIE! But that did not stop conservative news outlets from purporting the video veracity. It was not until Fiorina was called out during the aftermath of that Republican Presidential debate that she was scrutinised over the accusations.

A month later, a man walked into a Planned Parenthood and murdered three people and shot nine more.

Fast forward to June 2016 and the assassination of Jo Cox.

The murderer in this case called himself, “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.” when asked his name at Westminster Magistrates Court.

As I wrote last week, he was a follower of American Neo-Nazi websites but, the parallels are clear. During this EU referendum debate, the choice between Remain or Leave has been distilled down to “take back our country.”

I’ve lived in England for a long time and I’ve seen the daily headlines about the, “Hoards of EU Migrants coming to take your job”. I’ve seen the vitriol that comes from Members of Parliament who wish to inflame the passions of people across the country and it is disgusting. I work and live with people who are not from this country but would gladly put everything they have to ensuring its success. The anti-immigrant sentiment in this country is the same as is seen in the middle-east, Austria, Australia or the United States of America.

Blame the defenceless for ALL of your problems. Create an over-whelming bogeyman who takes all of the unemployment benefits AND all of the potential jobs. Create an unbeatable atmosphere of fear and aggression.

That is the easy, simple, insulting politics of immigration fear mongering. The sad thing is that it works. These arguments are ancient. They are ancient because they effective and emotive.

Ever since I was a kid by parents taught me not to blame others for my failings. They did that because they knew it is too easy to fall into that trap.

This EU referendum has fallen into that trap. Maybe, just maybe, this unforgivable tragedy will force Britain to grow up.