Sir David Amess and Jo Cox murders must be watershed for politics – The Yorkshire Post says

Despite the promises and good intentions of a great many “about doing politics differently, with more kindness and compassion”, she concludes, wearily and regrettably, that matters are even worse now.

‘A joy to represent such a diverse community’ What Jo Cox said in her maiden speech to the Commons in June 2015

As she writes so persuasively and eloquently, everyone has a duty “to remove the hatred and anger that can form the breeding ground for violence” so that MPs and public figures are not working in fear of their lives. A case in point is Parliament where differences are invariably accentuated at the expense of the genuine common ground, and purpose, shared by MPs on all sides of the chmber.

As such, the acceptance by senior Tory and Labour figures that social media needs to be regulated more robustly is a chance for them to show how they can work together for the greater good after the killing of Sir David Amess.

One means to do this is the Online Harms Bill. This legislation’s focus should not be the curtailment of freedom of speech as some have intimated; it should be about social media platforms requiring users to register their personal details when an account is opened – and that information being automatically passed to the police if threatening, racial or other offensive comments are posted.

For, as Jo Cox said in her own maiden speech that was so evocative, people do usually have ‘more in common’ with their opponents than they realise. Even MPs and legislators.

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