Glastonbury Festival: Thousands sing 'We Shall Overcome' together in touching tribute to Jo Cox

'We believed she would be prime minister one day,' says friend and long-time colleague of Ms Cox

Thousands of Glastonbury festival-goers have come together to pay tribute to Jo Cox, singing a solemn rendition of 'We Shall Overcome'.

Folk singer Billy Bragg led the crowd at the festival’s Park Stage exactly a week after the Labour politician was tragically shot dead.

The 41-year-old MP for Batley and Spen was attacked in her constituency in Birstall in West Yorkshire near to where she held her weekly surgery on 16 June. She was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary in critical condition but died of her injuries soon after.

Bragg was joined on stage by Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis who was carrying her newborn baby and hundreds of women - many of the whom were wearing sashes in the iconic white, green and purple colours of the Suffragettes.

Brigid McConville, who worked alongside Ms Cox at White Ribbon Alliance for three years, spoke to the crowd explaining that she would never forget the exact moment she was informed of the atrocity.

“It feels like the attack on Jo was an attack on all of us,” she said. “Jo knew that women were not only at the sharp end of social injustice all over the world but that we are the solution to it."

"As a campaigner in the charity sector, even before she became an MP, she saw for herself how women particularly suffer in conflict and poverty, and how fast things can change for the better when their voices are heard.”

McConville commended Ms Cox's significant work on maternal health which saw the long overlooked issue raised by the G8 and UN. “Since then, the numbers of women dying in childbirth has halved, so that’s an extraordinary contribution of Jo’s,” she explained.

“We believed she would be prime minister one day".

The performance included a minute of silence for the politician. Following this, the crowd joined in a march to Glastonbury’s first women-only venue The Sisterhood which was officially opened in memory of Ms Cox.

Writing on Twitter, Bragg said he was touched to be invited to take part in the tribute.

Born in Batley, Ms Cox is the first in her family to graduate from University. Before embarking on a career in politics, the Yorkshire native worked as an aid worker for a decade. Holding a number of high-profile roles, she was the head of humanitarian campaigning for Oxfam and an advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.