Brendan Cox to deliver Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message

22 December 2016

News of Jo Cox’s murder sent shockwaves through the nation in June this year after she was shot and stabbed in her constituency of Batley and Spen, in West Yorkshire. A hugely popular and well-respected politician, she was an outspoken critic of the lack of a strategic policy in Syria and a humanitarian who campaigned for women’s rights around the world. She was murdered by a far right extremist near her constituency office one week before the UK voted on its future in Europe.

Aged just 41 when she died, Jo left behind Brendan, her husband of seven years and their two young children.

In the Alternative Christmas Message, which will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 2.05pm on Channel 4, Cox reflects on the fear and tensions brought to the fore in 2016:

“2016 has been an awful year for our family, and it’s been a divisive one for the wider world. A year in which fascism, xenophobia, extremism and terrorism made us divided and felt threatened, from America, to Europe, to the Middle East and beyond. And these trends could strengthen - they could gain momentum they could consolidate and they could threaten the fundamental freedoms, and democracy that our grandparents fought for.”

In a tribute to his wife, he said the events of this year should be a wakeup call to defend our key values such as tolerance and fair play and come together:

“After all that’s happened this year, she would hope that all of us make a resolution to do something in 2017 to bring our communities back together. To reach out to somebody that might disagree with us. Now is not a moment to shout louder into our echo chambers. It’s a moment to reach out.”

Recorded on the converted Dutch barge, the family home he and Jo established on the river Thames, he remembers the joy Jo found in Christmas:

“Jo loved Christmas, the games, the traditions, the coming together of friends and family and above all the excitement of our kids. This year we’ll try to remember how lucky we were to have Jo in our lives for so long - and not how unlucky we were to have her taken from us.”

Brendan met Jo while they were both working in the international development industry. Driven by the same ideals as his wife, he was Gordon Brown’s adviser on international development when he was Prime Minister. He continues to work on building inclusive communities that respect diversity.

Channel 4’s Deputy Head of News & Current Affairs Daniel Pearl commissioned ITN Productions to produce this year’s message. He said: “2016 has been one of the most momentous years in recent history - punctuated by political turmoil, conflict and a stream of dramatic events. Brendan’s message references this wider turbulence but is also a very personal reflection at Christmas, a time for family and looking back over the past year, from a man who has suffered the tragic loss of his wife and mother of his children as a result of extremism.”

The Alternative Christmas Message has previously been delivered by a number of prominent figures from Reverend Jesse Jackson to whistle-blower Edward Snowden and Doreen Lawrence (opens in a new window) and Neville Lawrence, the parents of Stephen Lawrence.

 

Full Transcript:

Jo loved Christmas, the games, the traditions, the coming together of friends and family and above all the excitement of our kids.

This year we’ll try to remember how lucky we were to have Jo in our lives for so long - and not how unlucky we were to have her taken from us.

2016 has been an awful year for our family, and it’s been a divisive one for the wider world.

A year in which fascism, xenophobia, extremism and terrorism made us divided and felt threatened, from America, to Europe, to the Middle East and beyond.

And these trends could strengthen - they could gain momentum they could consolidate and they could threaten the fundamental freedoms, and democracy that our grandparents fought for.

But that isn’t how it has to be.

Just as it has become apparent that tolerance and tolerant societies are only as strong as their defenders – there is nothing inevitable about the rise of hatred.

Instead of being a turning point for the worse, 2016 could be a wake-up call that brings us back together.

A wake-up call for all those of us who thought that the values that feel so much part of our society; of tolerance, of fair play - were in some way sacrosanct and didn’t need defending.

A wake up call that this isn’t someone else’s problem.

And a wake-up call, that we all have our part to play.

In a speech a few weeks before she was killed, my wife quoted Edmund Burke who said that, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”

That has never been more true that at this Christmas.

This Christmas our family will be remembering Jo in every moment, her energy, her enthusiasm, her love and her example. After all that’s happened this year, she would hope that all of us make a resolution to do something in 2017 to bring our communities back together. To reach out to somebody that might disagree with us. Now is not a moment to shout louder into our echo chambers. It’s a moment to reach out.

If 2016 was a wakeup call, I hope 2017 might be the year in which we realise that we’ve got more in common than that which divides us.

Thank you for listening and happy Christmas.