Jo Cox anniversary: Husband says murdered MP 'still centre of family'

Jo Cox remains "the centre of our family", her husband has said on the second anniversary of the MP's murder.

Brendan Cox tweeted to say the family would be remembering her smile, empathy, energy and love.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the West Yorkshire MP was an "inspirational MP, campaigner and humanitarian".

A national celebration of Mrs Cox's life will take place next weekend, which will coincide with what would have been her 44th birthday.

The MP for Batley and Spen was killed in 2016 by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in a politically-motivated attack during the EU referendum campaign.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: "We miss her commitment to fighting injustice and her conviction that a better world is possible."

A family statement tweeted by the Jo Cox Foundation said: "We will be spending the day together privately as a family and remembering all the goodness she brought to our world and not the way she was taken from it.

"Jo had a profound effect not just on those of us who loved her dearly, but on everybody she met."

On the first anniversary of her death, Mrs Cox was remembered in the Commons with a plaque bearing her coat of arms and the phrase "more in common".

Events across the country will take place between 22-24 June in memory of the murdered MP, under the banner The Great Get Together.

Mrs Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater told the BBC's Woman's Hour: "This is all about trying to do something good, but it's also about a way of dealing with what's happened to us.

"It is also very much about remembering what Jo believed in and the values she lived her life by, and how we can continue that work."

Mr Cox had been involved with More in Common and the Jo Cox Foundation, but left his posts in February after the Mail on Sunday published claims he had assaulted a woman in her 30s at Harvard University in 2015.

He denied the assault, but admitted "inappropriate" behaviour while working for Save the Children.