I was visiting a constituent in Osmington yesterday afternoon when the appalling news came through.
Like everyone, I was stunned.
I did not know Jo Cox well, but knew via the parliamentary grapevine that she was a highly motivated and effective MP.
Her tragic murder leaves a grieving husband and two small children.
It’s impossible to imagine what they are experiencing now and our thoughts and prayers go out to them and of course family and friends.
Jo was murdered doing her job, which she carried out with diligence and passion.
Clearly, when a colleague is targeting in this way, it is especially poignant.
We are all accessible to the public and accept that a job like ours comes with risks.
She was walking to the library to attend one of her surgeries when she was attacked.
No one can be prepared for a sudden assault like this and, frankly, there is no defence against it.
I would like to pay tribute to those bystanders who tried to intervene, one of whom was stabbed.
Vulnerable though MPs are from misfits like Thomas Mair, it is this accessibility which makes our democracy stand out from the rest.
And this must not change.
Other MPs have been murdered in the line of duty and, regrettably, it is likely to happen again at some point in the future.
Hate, intolerance or mental illness cause people to do dreadful things.
I’m a great believer that good always wins in the end, and Jo’s smiling face, beaming out from today’s newspapers, only reinforces that belief.
A gentle and loving mother and wife has been cruelly taken from her children and husband and all of us are the poorer.